The Hindu : National : RSP may also go it alone if CPI(M) is not ‘flexible’

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Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007
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RSP may also go it alone if CPI(M) is not ‘flexible’

Special Correspondent

Kolkata: A day after the All-India Forward Bloc announced its decision to go it alone in next year’s panchayat polls in West Bengal, another Left Front partner, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, said it “would be constrained” to contest most of the seats on its own “if the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is not flexible” in distribution.

Debabrata Bandhopadhyay, RSP State secretary, told The Hindu here on Tuesday that his party would “contest alone most of the seats in areas where the party is strong if the CPI(M) does not accommodate it in seat distribution.”

An official decision would be taken at a State Secretariat meeting likely to be held later this month.

“If the CPI(M) softens its stand, then the area of unity [where the Left Front partners put up a common candidate] can be extended,” said Mr. Bandhopadhyay.

In previous elections too, the party contested most of the seats on its own.

CPI(M) reaction

Reacting, CPI(M) central committee member Shyamal Chakravarty, said there was no point in taking any decision on the matter now as the panchayat elections were still months away. Such issues could be discussed in the course of bilateral talks with other ruling Left Front constituents as well as at the Front committee level, he said.

Decision final: AIFB

On Monday, the State AIFB leadership, at the conclusion of a State council meeting, decided that the party go it alone in the panchayat elections.

“The decision is final,” said State secretary Ashok Ghosh.

State leaders of the Communist Party of India, however, are against any move by a Front constituent to contest on its own.

It is imperative to consolidate Front unity “and nothing should be done that would benefit the Opposition,” said CPI State Secretary Manjukumar Majumdar.

“There are differences over certain issues between the Left Front partners but all that could be resolved through discussions”, Mr. Majumdar said and expressed the hope that the AIFB leadership would retract from its stand.

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