CALCUTTA, 11 January 2005 — Jyoti Basu has appealed to senior leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to give more time to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government to implement the common minimum program.
Addressing the powerful CPI(M) Central Committee in Calcutta yesterday, the former West Bengal chief minister and Politburo member said that as the United Progressive Alliance government has been in power for barely eight months, comrades should not exert too much pressure on the Congress party-led federal government.
A Central Committee member quoted Basu as saying: “We may have to be a little more patient with the Congress because it is trying to find its bearings after being in the opposition for such a long time. Moreover, the political situation demands tact and patience.”
Basu was apparently trying to calm down CPI(M) hard-liners like Mohammad Salim and Chittabrata Majumdar who accused the Manmohan regime of deviating from the common minimum program — the left’s condition for supporting the government.
The hard-liners were particularly angry at rising prices of essential commodities which, according to them, has begun to pinch the common man.
Buddhadev Bhattacharya, West Bengal chief minister, echoed Basu’s advice not to rock Manmohan’s boat. But Bhattacharya added that the CPI(M) should not remain a mute witness if government policies hurt the man on the street. Adopting a cautious approach, Sitaram Yechury, said: “All of us are equally concerned about rising prices. So we have to decide on the line of action.”
Basu’s comments, as well as misgivings of hard-liners, are significant because the three-day Central Committee meeting is all set to finalize the draft of the CPI(M)’s political resolution which will be presented at the party congress in April.
The CPI(M)’s 18th party congress is scheduled to be held in Delhi in April. The political resolution, which is now being drafted, will have a section on the CPI(M)’s relations with Congress. It will be presented at the party congress — held every two years — for ratification before it is disseminated among grass root workers.
Analysts say the CPI(M)’s new political resolution is bound to be radically different from the one adopted in 2002 that equated Congress’ economic policies with those of the BJP. In the changed circumstances, the upcoming draft is a matter of speculation. But there is considerable satisfaction among CPI(M) leaders over the scrapping of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, dismantling of the Disinvestment Ministry and the introduction of food-for-work program.
