CPI(M) not to join hands with Congress for Assembly polls

The CPI(M) Politburo has decided not to join hands with the Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections in five states and to adopt a state-wise strategy with regard to its alliances. The party arrived at this formula as there was no consensus on the matter among various state units, especially between the West Bengal and the Kerala units.

In the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand, the CPI(M) will form alliances with other left parties. The party, however, is in favour of the Tamil Nadu model where both the CPI(M) and the Congress are junior partners in a coalition headed by a regional party. 

A final decision with regard to its equation with the Congress will be taken at the next Party Congress to be held in Kerala's Kannur in April. 

The tussle within the CPI(M) with regard to its tie-up with the Congress has been going on for quite a few years with the Bengal unit strongly arguing for an alliance and the Kerala unit, the only state where it is in power, opposing it. The last Party Congress held in Hyderabad in 2018, too, had witnessed heated discussion among the delegates regarding the alliance, with a section led by party general secretary Sitaram Yechury bringing a resolution supporting the alliance and another section led by former general secretary Prakash Karat opposing it. But with Yechury line getting the upper hand, the CPI(M) decided in favour of an alliance with the Congress.

The issue has now again cropped up and both the Bengal and Kerala units remain adamant in their positions. CPI(M) leaders from Kerala in various Central Committee meetings had argued that the Congress was no longer a big player in national politics and that placing the Congress in a pivotal position would be detrimental to the party in the state where both of them are in a face-to-face fight.

The Kerala unit also pointed out that the political lines adopted in the last Party Congress which had favoured an understanding with the Congress has not yielded any results. “If the BJP is playing hard Hindutva, the Congress is playing soft Hindutva. What is the point in accepting the leadership of such a Congress party against the BJP,'' a Central Committee member from Kerala had argued in the last CC meeting.  

But the CC members from Bengal felt that the Congress still has relevance as a national party and that such a coalition is crucial to resist the BJP. They argued that a coalition under the Congress party is better than a third front of regional parties. 

“The party line will be made clear in the draft political resolution which will be finalised in the CC meeting to be held in January. That will again be discussed in all party committees and a final decision will be taken only at the Party Congress. Till then, every state committee will be allowed to take a decision assessing the political situations in those states,'' a CC member told THE WEEK. 

Apparently, the state committees of all the five states where Assembly elections are to be held early next year have opposed an alliance with the Congress. 

“Hence the party decided against alliance with the Congress for the time being,” said the leader.