CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat’s political ambition to form a third front was virtually smashed with the central committee of the party rejecting any proposal to work towards a Left-led non-Congress and non-BJP front.
Mr Karat’s decision to try to forge a Left-led alternative during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls has been described as a “parliamentary opportunism,” in the draft political resolution to be released by the party on Saturday. The draft resolution will be adopted at the forthcoming party congress of the CPI(M) in April.
During the last CC meeting, held in January, sources disclosed that Mr Karat had deftly tried to push for a Left-led alternative to the Congress and the BJP, in the line of the third front. This was rejected by the CC, making it clear that during the 2009 general polls, the move sent a wrong signal and the CPI(M)’s strength in the LoK Sabha was reduced from 42 seats to 16. Mr Karat’s misadventure in electoral politics was described by the CC as a “parliamentary opportunism”. It was felt that Mr Karat’s move to build up an alliance with outfits like the BSP was “not becoming of a Communist Party”. It was also felt that Mr Karat’s call for an alternative government in 2009 “could not carry much conviction”.
However, the draft resolution to be released continued to maintain an anti-Congress and anti-BJP line. While discarding any move to forge a Left-led alternative, the manifesto confined itself to join hands with the “Left socialist and democratic forces” in the country.