The Hindu : Front Page : `CPI has not forsworn DIC(K)'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005

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`CPI has not forsworn DIC(K)'

Special Correspondent

Veliyam says DIC(K) role in bypoll win must not be exaggerated

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Veliyam Bhargavan has said that his party has not foresworn the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) and only wished to make it clear that the DIC(K)'s role in the Left Democratic Front's victory in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha byelection must not be exaggerated.

Briefing reporters about the deliberations of the CPI State council here on Monday, Mr. Bhargavan said his party wanted detailed discussions within and among the LDF constituents so as to arrive at the most appropriate decision. When the matter came up for discussion in the CPI State council, there were some who were opposed to the inclusion of the DIC(K) in the LDF, some who thought there should be only a tactical adjustment with it and some who felt that it must be brought into the LDF. The issue would be taken up for a detailed discussion at the next meeting of the State council to be held from January 4 to 7, he added.

Asked to comment on DIC(K) leader K. Karunakaran's observation that the CPI stand amounted to ingratitude, Mr. Bhargavan said it could hardly be said so when the CPI had not arrived at a final position in the matter. All that it wanted was a broad discussion on the subject before a decision was taken, he said.

On Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan's stand that an alliance including the DIC(K) was imperative to fight the next Assembly polls, he said each party was free to hold its views on every subject. The CPI position that the LDF couldwin any election on its own now did not mean that it was opposed to the inclusion of the DIC(K) in the LDF. The party only wished to say that though they did play a part in the LDF win in the byelection, their contribution should not be exaggerated, he said.

The party State council, he said, had identified three main reasons for the LDF's victory in the byelection. These were the people's resentment towards the United Democratic Front (UDF) Government, their desire that the Left should be strengthened at the national level and their disapproval of the tacit understanding between the UDF and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The UDF had also adopted a campaign tactics focussed on communal mobilisation and infusion of crores of rupees into the campaign effort, he said.

Replying to a question, the CPI State secretary said the LDF leadership had not taken any decision to keep any party out of its deliberations, though there was much validity in the argument that it was not a good practice for parties to split repeatedly.

On the development agenda sought to be put forward by the CPI(M), he said it could not be described as the LDF's development agenda. Each party in the LDF had its own perceptions about development. A common agenda can evolve only through discussions, he said. Mr. Bhargavan said the council had also decided to launch the celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of the CPI's formation on December 26 in Thrissur.

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