Cracks in CPI (M)? Karat camp wins over Yechury camp to reject tie-up with Congress

The rift within the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)) is out in the open after the two factions of the political party fought over whether to align with the Congress or not.

New Delhi, Jan 22: The rift within the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)) is out in the open after the two factions of the political party fought over whether to align with the Congress or not for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

According to media reports, while the camp headed by general secretary Sitaram Yechury in the CPI (M) favoured a political alliance with the Congress and other "secular Left and democratic" parties to thwart the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) victory in the upcoming General elections, the Prakash Karat camp rejected any alliance or electoral understanding with the Congress.

Finally, the proposal of the camp headed by Karat, Yechury's predecessor, prevailed as it won an internal election of the party by 55 to 31 votes.

Yechury's proposal was rejected during the voting that was held at the Central Committee (CC) meeting on Sunday in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Reports say the senior leader offered to resign from the party's top post a day before the meeting on Saturday anticipating defeat of his proposal to join hands with the Congress.

However, he was asked to remain in his post by the party's highest body, the politburo.

Yechury's proposal had the full support of the West Bengal unit and a large section of the Tripura unit of the CPI (M). Karat had the backing of "powerful" Kerala unit of the party.

"The draft political resolution adopted after incorporating some amendments, states that there is no electoral alliance or understanding with the Congress," Yechury told NDTV.

However, the CPI (M) general secretary refused to share any details about the rift within the party. "What happens internally in the party, I don't need to say that here. I am here as the general secretary of the CPI(M) as the politburo and the central committee say that I should be the general secretary of the CPI(M), so this answers your question," he told NDTV.

Back in 2008, the Left parties, including the CPI (M), withdrew their support from the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Both the UPA-I and UPA-II governments were headed by the Congress from 2004 to 2014.

Since the Left parties left the UPA-I alliance, they all have been losing their political hold across the country.

OneIndia News