Karat extends olive branch to Buddha

The CPI(M) central leadership appeared to be buying peace with the disgruntled section in the party at the extended central committee meet in Vijayawada today.

With the crucial assembly elections due in May 2011 in West Bengal and Kerala, the CPI(M) central leadership led by general secretary Prakash Karat refrained from making any criticism against the state leaders.

Karat’s inaugural speech, which set the tone for the four-day meet, and the draft political resolution, which form the basis of the discussions, here, were indicative of the conciliation by its omissions and commissions.

Although Karat devoted substantial part of his speech to the political setback in West Bengal, he avoided making comments about poor governance and failure in delivering pro-poor programmes by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government.

While praising Tripura – another Left-ruled state for its commendable performance in implementing the NREGA – he stopped short of mentioning West Bengal on that score. Instead, the central leadership shared the concern for the crisis in the state — but without any admonition.

Before Karat spoke, the president of the reception committee, P Ramaiah, referred to the crisis and said, “The efforts made by the West Bengal state unit of CPI(M) to thwart these conspiracies are inspiring and we are happy about that.”

According to a senior leader, the party is trying to put all controversial issues behind for the time being. This, a section of the party feels, would ensure that the controversy surrounding the withdrawal of support to UPA-I on the nuclear issue will not haunt Karat and his central leadership.

The draft resolution has a clear policy: “The entire party will work to defend the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal.” Despite, the central leadership offering the olive branch to West Bengal Chief Minister, Bhattacharjee skipped the inaugural session and arrived late in the afternoon.