CPM Politburo finalising rectification paper; Buddhadeb attends

West Bengal chief minister Buddadeb Bhattacharjee, who had skipped several meetings of CPI(M) central leadership, today attended deliberations of the party Politburo which gave final touches to a document that will address "all wrong trends" in the organisation.

Bhattacharjee had stayed away from three of the four meetings of the Politburo since a shocking defeat for the party in the Left bastion in the Lok Sabha polls amid reports that he would be replaced from the post of chief minister.

The politbureau gave its final touches to the 'rectification document' which will be placed before the central committee later this month to take a final decision on the issue.

"All wrong trends in the party will be rectified. The rectification will be done at all levels," Politburo member MK Pandhe told reporters.

He was responding to a question whether the rectification document addresses allegations that party members are more into realty business.

The proposed "rectification document" is likely to come out with steps to stem the organisational rot while dealing with issues ranging from factionalism and ideological deviation to corruption and even "sabotage" of candidates, CPI(M) sources said.   Issues relating to the "disconnect" between the CPI(M)-led governments in West Bengal and Kerala and party's line and political priorities would also find a significant place in the document, sources said.

"The aim of bringing out the document is to pin-point the organisational weaknesses. We will have to discuss and assess the causes threadbare so that a concrete document is prepared for action," a senior party leader said.

The document is understood to have identified alienation of peasantry and minorities in Bengal, neglect of work among rural poor, more dependence on the government administration rather than mass mobilisation in Left-ruled states, arrogance and bureaucratic attitude among its leaders and cadres as the reasons for the electoral rout.

Corruption, nepotism, the influence of money and caste and even "sabotage of candidates" have also been identified as reasons for the electoral debacle, the sources said.

They said the party has not been fully able to protect its cadre to threats posed by Maoists in certain parts of Bengal.

The extent to which the recommendations made in this document are implemented is expected to be significant as the assembly elections are due in both West Bengal and Kerala next year.