The Hindu : Left parties' crucial meetings begin today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 28, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Left parties' crucial meetings begin today

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JAN. 27. The stage is set for the all-important meetings of the politburo and the Central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the national executive of the CPI, both coincidently beginning here on Wednesday, for firming up the election strategy for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Leaders of the Left parties contended that the simultaneous conduct of the meetings had no significance whatsoever. The timing and choice of Hyderabad was a mere coincidence. A decision on holding the CPI(M) meeting here was taken last month and a few days later, the CPI, too, followed suit. The meetings are being held separately but a decision on how close they would come together against the Bharatiya Janata Party combine would be one of the several issues to be debated. The former West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, and the CPI(M) politburo member, Sitaram Yechury, are already here. On Tuesday, it was the turn of the CPI(M) general secretary, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, and his CPI counterpart, A.B. Bardhan, the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, and other senior leaders. Mr. Yechury said the meeting was significant in the light of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's decision to go in for early Lok Sabha polls simultaneously with Assembly elections in some States. A number of election-related issues would come up for discussion during the three-day meeting.

"Our endeavour will be to chalk an effective strategy to ensure the defeat of the BJP and its allies. In this effort we will work with the Congress in putting up a joint fight and see that there is no split in the Opposition vote. At the same time, the party will not forge any electoral alliance with the Congress as, we feel, both the Congress and the BJP form the same ruling class following similar economic policies," he said. But he saw change in the Congress stand for better, reflected in its efforts in looking out for alliances now.He explained that the party had traditional allies in the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar and a few other States. In Andhra Pradesh it would come to an electoral understanding with the CPI but would have nothing to do with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, saying "we are opposed to the division of the State." To another question, he said it was for the TRS to reconsider its stand in the interest of the Opposition unity and the common objective of defeating the TDP-BJP combine.

S. Sudhakar Reddy, secretary of the State Council of the CPI, said the national executive meeting of the party assumed importance in the backdrop of early Lok Sabha elections. The party would finalise the strategy for the elections.Both Makineni Basavapunniah Bhavan and Maqdoom Bhavan, the State CPI(M) and the CPI headquarters respectively, the venues of the two meetings, were being spruced up and decorated with party flags and buntings.

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