It seems that pro-liberal West Bengal chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, is no more the ideal communist brand for his own party, the CPI(M). The list of delegates at the two-day 11th International Meeting of Communist & Workers’ Parties, to be held in New Delhi from November 20-22, does not include Bhattacharjee.
However, two other Marxist chief ministers from India, Manik Sarkar of Tripura and VS Achuthanandan of Kerala, figure prominently on the list of speakers. Instead of Bhattacharjee, the Bengal CPI(M) will be represented by the party’s state secretary and Left Front chairman Biman Bose. The two other CPI(M) delegates at the meet are politburo members Sitaram Yechuri and MK Pandhe. The latter is the president of the party’s trade union wing, Citu.
CPI(M) leaders in West Bengal, however, do not want Bhattacharjee’s absence at the meet to become a major issue. According to them, the chief minister needs to stay back in Kolkata to handle key state-related affairs at such a crucial juncture. “Bose will be our representative at the conference. There is no need to make an issue out of it,” a senior CPI(M) leader from the state said.
State leaders pointed out that party general secretary Prakash Karat and CPI general secretary AB Bardhan also do not figure in the list of delegates. However, as per the schedule, a copy of which is available with
DNA, both Karat and Bardhan will deliver keynote addresses at the concluding open session of the meet on November 22, 2009.
However, political analysts here feel that the absence of Bhattacharjee in the meeting assumes greater significance for two main reasons. “While Bhattacharjee has been left out, Achuthanandan has found place even though he was recently expelled from the politburo. With Singur and Nandigram hogging the limelight globally, the CPI(M) is purposely keeping Bhattacharjee out of such the meet, which will be attended by Communist leaders from 60 countries,” a senior political analyst said.
Of all the other Left Front constituents, the CPI gets bigger representation. Speakers from the party are S Sudhakar Reddy, Gurudas Dasgupta, D Raja and Pallab Sengupta.
