CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and the party’s dissident West Bengal unit appear to have struck a quid pro quo deal at the recent extended central committee meeting here: in return for letting the Bengal unit determine strategy for the coming Assembly elections, it will not directly challenge Mr Karat’s authority and supremacy till the 2012 party congress.
Mr Karat also accepted the Bengal unit’s policy of treating the Congress with kid gloves though the party at the national level would continue its strident anti-Congress line. This was a crucial point of difference between the two. The Bengal leaders were determined to convince Mr Karat that the Congress was the lesser enemy. It reminded him that the CPI(M)’s decision to dump the Congress-led UPA in 2008 was a deviation from the line adopted at the Coimbatore party congress.
The Bengal unit, led by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and state party secretary Biman Bose, insists that the withdrawal of support from UPA-1 was not only “ill-timed,” but also “unimaginative” because the Indo-US nuclear deal never struck a chord with ordinary citizens.
Blaming Mr Karat’s unnecessary hawkishness vis-à-vis the Congress for the worst crisis the CPI(M) faced in a long time, a resolution adopted by the state unit at the conclave read: “This futile withdrawal drama eventually proved to be the political nemesis of the party in Bengal.”
Fearing his leadership might be questioned, if not challenged, a diplomatic Mr Karat had to field politburo member Sitaram Yechury (considered pro-Bengal lobby) who conceded the point that the decision on withdrawal of support was a “hasty” one.
With this tactical climbdown, Mr Karat ensured a truce with the Bengal lobby which had of late turned highly restive.