A day after the CPI(M)’s humiliating rout in the civic polls, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee advocated a change in the party leadership. “The success (or failure) depends on a captain, general or a leader. Just as after the defeat of a team, the coach is removed, there is a need for a leadership change,” he said, without mentioning CPI(M)’s name. Mr Chatterjee was speaking on the sidelines of a programme in the city.
Prominent CPI(M) leader Kanti Ganguly was also present on the stage. Trinamul Congress won eight of the 12 municipalities where elections were held last week while the CPI(M) scored a zero. By winning the small Mekhliganj municipality in Cooch Behar, the Forward Bloc managed to bag a consolation prize for the Left Front but the CPI(M) failed to win even one of the 12 civic boards. Expressing his anguish over the CPI(M)’s electoral setback in the civic polls, Mr Chatterjee said: “The Left politics which espoused the cause of the oppressed and downtrodden people, of the workers and peasants has been weakened. I sincerely appeal to all those who are associated with this politics to seriously discuss the matter among themselves because the future is more important than post,” he added.