New Delhi, November 11
The CPM today claimed that there were no cracks in the ruling Left Front over the Nandigram issue even as it speeded up efforts to placate its allies to save the party’s prestige and the Front.
“Where are the cracks you are talking about? There is no divide,” CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said after the Politburo meeting, which was called to decide on the strategy to be adopted in the coming winter session of Parliament, but was dominated by the explosive situation in Nandigram.
His statement came a day after the state minister and RSP leader Kshiti Goswami said he might quit his post and his party colleague Manoj Bhattacharjee stated that a pull out of the alliance on the Nandigram issue was not ruled out.
While on one hand, the CPM central leaders decided to back the Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee despite mounting criticism against him, on the other they asked Left Front chairperson and party general secretary Biman Basu to cut short his visit to the Capital and return to hold talks with the leaders of the allies to placate them. He is expected to convene a meeting of the Left Front leaders soon, sources said.
The RSP has called a party meet on November 13 to decide on future course of action.
Before leaving for Kolkata, Basu had presented a detailed report before the Politburo on the situation in Nandigram and various steps taken by the state government to tackle the situation.
According to sources, the party leadership was keen that the “dissension” within the Left Front on
the issue should not lead to “disintegration” as it would be a big blot for the CPM, which has been successfully leading and keeping the Left Front intact for the past 30 years.
Top leaders, including Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, Kerala and Tripura chief ministers and Biman Basu were among those who attended the meeting. West Bengal Chief Minister did not attend the meeting in the wake of the situation in Nandigram and statewide bandh call given by the Trinamool Congress.
Besides, Nandigram issue, the Politburo also discussed the party’s strategy to be adopted on the Indo-US nuclear deal, price situation and the ensuing assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Meanwhile, seeking to corner the Left and the UPA Government at the Centre, the BJP today decided to send a high level team to Nandigram to assess ground situation there and to raise the issue in Parliament.
