By IANS,
New Delhi: With the Left parties continuing to suffer reverses in the November by-polls following a dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan said that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) should take the major share of the blame as it was the senior partner and had ignored his party’s suggestions made over the past eighteen months.
In an interview to Karan Thapar on CNBC TV 18 programme “India Tonight”, Bardhan said there was a need for the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government in the state to rethink certain policies, particularly the industrial policy. He said if it does not happen, the Left parties could lose the next assembly elections in the state in 2011.
Bardhan said the Lok Sabha elections and recent state elections were a setback not just for the Left Front government but for the Left movement as a whole.
He said nepotism and corruption, particularly at the lower and middle levels of the government, had been responsible for the sharp loss of popularity of the Left parties. While asserting that the CPM leaders themselves were not involved, he said they had turned a blind eye to the problem.
He also said that the Left became arrogant and started interfering in areas where they had no business to be, such as literary committees and cultural committees.
The CPI leader said in the last year and a half the CPI had sent several notes to the CPI-M suggesting steps to correct the failing situation but these had been ignored.
Bardhan also said that after the May general elections, he had informally suggested to the CPI-M that the Left Front government should resign and seek a fresh mandate.
However, he added the Left Front government should not resign now to seek a mandate because, in the changed circumstances, that would be like “running away”. Now the Left has to “stay on and fight”, he said.
Expressing hope that Bhattacharjee and the CPI-M leadership will see merit in his party’s suggestions, Bardhan said the future of the Left will depend on the willingness and capacity of the CPI-M leadership to change their attitude and policies.