CPM to decide CM candidate for Kerala after polls

New Delhi, Mar 11: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today (Mar 11, 2006) categorically said it would decide about its chief ministerial candidate in Kerala only after the polls while the sitting Chief Minister in West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is the man for the job there.

The party's 85-member Central Committee, which began its two-day deliberations, preceded by a Polit Bureau meeting here, had begun the process of finding ways and means to fulfill its aim to continue in power for the seventh successive term in West Bengal, bring back the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, increase its strength in Tamil Nadu and record the party's presence in Asom.

CPI (M) senior leaders Basudev Achariya and W R Waradharajan told UNI that the party was also deliberating on the UPA government's recent decisions including the Indo-US nuclear deal.

The party is likely to review its approach in the context of UPA-Left cordination panel, which has not yeilded the desried results as the Manmohan Singh government is not adhering to the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) in toto, the CPI(M) leaders said.

Party General Secretary Prakash Karat, Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, Marxist veteran H S Surjeet and Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat are among others, who are participating in the deliberations at the party headquarters, A K Gopalan Bhawan.

Another party veteran and former West Bengal chief minsiter Jyoti Basu has so far not been able to make it to the meeting.

To a specific query, West Bengal LDF Chairman Biman Bose denied the impact of anti-incumbency factor forcing the party to bring in as many as 108 new faces for the elections to the 292-member assembly.

''We have done so becuase of the change in the profile of the voters' list as more and more young people are now the new voters,'' said Mr Achariya, the party Parliamentary group leader in the Lok Sabha.

Asked about the chief ministerial candidate for Kerala, he said: ''For the CPI(M), an individual is not important... it is the party which will take the decision. We never project our chief ministerial candidates.'' Mr Waradharajan said the issue was not being discussed at the deliberations.

UNI