West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has indicated his desire to step down following the Left Front’s drubbing in the civic elections. Mr Bhattacharjee and state industries minister Nirupam Sen are unlikely to attend Saturday’s meeting of the CPI(M) politburo in New Delhi, which is being held to discuss the poll results.
The chief minister had earlier expressed his wish to resign following the CPI(M)’s rout in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, but the party leadership did not allow him to do so.
Sources said that after this series of electoral debacles, the chief minister indicated he was willing to quit if the party so desired. Some leaders of two parties allied to the CPI(M) in West Bengal — the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the West Bengal Socialist Party — have laid the blame for the electoral reverses on “corruption and wrong policies” of the government.
RSP leader Kshiti Goswami spelt it out: “The results indicate that people want change. There is corruption in many sections of the Left Front.” Then the sting: “The corruption is more in the CPI(M) than in others.” CPI(M) leader and state minister Goutam Deb also pointed a finger at the chief minister, saying after the civic poll drubbing: “We have been resting on the results of Assembly polls for a bit too long.”
Pressure has been mounting on Mr Bhattahcarjee to quit as a section within the Left Front feels he has “lost the appeal” that brings in votes. These leaders feel the CM’s “failure to do his homework” before launching his industrialisation programme has hurt the party.
The CPI(M) politburo meeting on Saturday will discuss the outcome of the civic polls and seek remedies, sources said. There were plans to question Mr Bhattacharjee in detail and maybe hold him responsible for the debacle, sources said. Mr Nirupam Sen, who played a key part in the industrialisation policy, reported himself “sick”. The chief minister, on the other hand, claimed the law and order situation in the state did not allow him to leave Kolkata.