Control of Karat lobby over Left not good: Somnath Chatterjee

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Wednesday said that the control of Prakash Karat lobby over the Left is not good for future.

Talking to ANI, the former Lok Sabha speaker said the Left parties are getting weaker day-by-day.

"Today left parties are getting weaker and weaker. Even in West Bengal they are being ignored. Sitaram Yechury's suggestions were rejected by Communist Party of India (Marxist) Central Committee which shows that Prakash Karat lobby is still controlling the Left, which is not good for future," Chatterjee said.

Yechury had proposed to ally with the Congress to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but it was rejected by the CPI-M Central Committee.

The committee members overwhelmingly supported a rival motion by former general secretary Karat and leader from Kerala, S. Ramachandran Pillai.

He also said that a strong Left movement was necessary in the country.

"To my belief and conviction, it essential to have a party like CPI-M in the present context in India, otherwise who will fight the forces of communalism, exploitation of the common people, serious problems faced by the workers and farmers. I feel very strongly that really a strong left movement is necessary in this country," Chatterjee said.

He added that in a parliamentary democracy, a party has to fight for the causes of the common people and also for its own existence.