Somnath stresses heads must roll for Left’s dismal poll run

Kolkata, May 18: The Left got a terrible beating down post-elections after they witnessed double loss both in Bengal and Kerala. With introspection and retrospection being carried out by those in the cadre, some chose to be more vocal about it.

Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Somnath Chatterjee, however, does not want to take the defeat lying down and commented that it was the disconnect between the Left Front and the people of West Bengal that led to the massive loss in elections. He also voiced strongly in an interview that the Left leaders should be held responsible for the poll debacle.

He was quoted as saying, “The question is about answering to the people or the party. Something does not happen suddenly. The party in power for 35 years in a politically conscious state facing such a debacle doesn't happen just like that. A serious introspection is needed." He was commenting on CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat"s statement that he alone was not responsible for the Left debacle and will not resign.

He added, “There is disconnect between the party and the people, (there is a) distance between party and the people. People didn't feel the change in daily lives or administration. People were taken for granted. This grief is almost unbearable sorrow, unbearable."

He vehemently stated, "Now I think more heads must roll or should have rolled than it was necessary at that time (Lok Sabha elections)." The Left is contemplating on what led to the end of the 34-year-old Left rule leading to Trinamool Congress" Mamta Banerjee winning 228 of the 294-member Assembly. The Left could manage to win only a mere 61 seats.

OneIndia News