Karat says he can't be blamed for Bengal rout

May 17, 2011 |

IANS

New Delhi

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Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat says he can't be be blamed for the electoral disaster in West Bengal that ended 34 years of Left Front rule.

Karat also told CNN-IBN that the Left decision to ditch the Congress in 2009 over the India-US nuclear deal was not what brought the Congress and Trinamool Congress together in West Bengal. The Left's defeat "has nothing to do with individuals", he said in an interview. "So neither will I take credit for (the CPI-M win in Bengal in) 2006, nor will take responsibility alone for 2011.

"This just doesn't depend on individuals. It's the organisation, and we have our methods of reviewing and correcting mistakes or distortions." Karat spoke four days after the Trinamool Congress worsted the CPI-M and its allies in West Bengal in Assembly election, cracking a leftist citadel built steadily since 1977. The CPI-M boss spoke on a variety of issues, including outgoing Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, former Lok Sabha speaker Sommath Chatterjee and the continued relevance of Communists in West Bengal. Justifying the Left's withdrawal of support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government in 2009, Karat said the Congress was never a friend of his party in West Bengal.

"The Congress in class terms has always fought and tried to defeat or weaken the CPI-M. There has never been any history of cooperation between the Congress and the CPI-M either in Kerala or West Bengal." He said the Congress and Trinamool would have come together anyway in this election — as they did in 2001. Karat admitted that the takeover of land in villagers to be given to industry was an important factor that undercut Left support in West Bengal — leading to the electoral disaster. "It is one of the factors but don't know if we can say it is the single factor." He added that by the time CPI-M realised the mistake, "the damage was already done". Karat also denied that 34 years of uninterrupted rule brought in arrogance of power.

"I don't think there was arrogance. If we were arrogant all through, people wouldn't have reposed their confidence in us again and again." But he admitted that 34 years of rule "produced some negative factors". Denying that Achuthanandan was ever denied a ticket to contest the election, which the Left lost narrowly in Kerala, Karat said the chief minister was one of the reasons for the party's remarkable showing. The CPI-M leader said the party should not be judged by electoral performances alone. "Elections only reflect something else, our movement exists, our opportunities for developing movements and struggles exist. "State governments are not the end all for our party. Our party exists despite not winning elections in so many places."

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