CPI(M) begins discussion on electoral tie-up with secular

A high-level meeting of the CPI (M) here today saw divergent views being expressed on whether the party should have any electoral understanding with secular forces including the Congress to take on the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The contentious issue of an electoral understanding with other secular parties was the focal point of discussion in the three-day meeting of the CPI(M) central committee which began here today.
A top CPI(M) leader told PTI that the overwhelming view in the meeting was that all non-Left secular parties should be united to defeat the BJP.
"All non-Left secular forces have to be united to fight the BJP without entering into any alliance or electoral front with them," the leader said.

According to party sources, many leaders, especially those from the West Bengal unit, were of the view that the party should have an electoral understanding with secular forces, including the Congress, as it had done in the recent presidential and vice-presidential polls.
However, some leaders opposed the views and said they believed that the party should focus its attack against the BJP, along with non-Congress secular parties.

The meet started with the placing of a report of the party politburo on the draft political resolution, the sources said. Yechury, however, presented a separate note on the matter, the sources said.

The draft political resolution will later be circulated among party cadres for their suggestions, before being placed in the next Party Congress of the CPI(M), slated for next year, for adoption.
About seven members of the central committee spoke on the issue on the first day of the meeting.
According to the sources, a leader from Kerala suggested that while framing the draft political resolution, the political situation in West Bengal should be taken into account.
Though the political line worked out by the CPI(M) in 2015 had precluded having any understanding or electoral alliance with the Congress in the fight against the BJP, the party had allowed state units to review specific political situation before deciding their own tactical line in consonance with the overall understanding.

As a result, the West Bengal state unit had entered into a tactical alliance with the Congress for the 2016 Assembly election. The Left was relegated to the third position in the state in the Assembly polls.