A divided party?

The unsuccessful strategy of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in West Bengal to join hands with the Congress ahead of Assembly polls in the state earlier this year is turning out to be a bone of contention in the party. The Bengal unit of the CPI-M clashed with party leaders from Kerala, Assam and Tripura at the three-day central committee meeting of the party in Delhi over the weekend. Some members questioned why the party's Bengal unit insisted on an alliance with the Congress in total conflict with the party resolutions adopted earlier against any ties with the Congress at the state level. At one point party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury had to step in and contain leaders, who insisted the Bengal camp admit failure for its insistence on such an alliance.