The two warring factions of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – one led by party general secretary Sitaram Yechury and the other by senior politburo member Prakash Karat – opted for a truce this week, even as both sides dug themselves deeper into their respective positions.
As the party’s three-day Central Committee deliberations drew to a close on Monday, there was more to read in what was left unsaid than what was actually articulated. Differences over the CPI(M)’s alliance with Congress in West Bengal for the recent assembly elections spilled out in the open during the concluding session when Jagmati Sangwan, a senior member of the Central Committee, walked out, announcing her resignation. She was subsequently expelled from the party for “gross indiscipline”.
On the face of it, the two factions appeared unified on the party’s position as they opted for value-neutral terminology and refrained from declaring whether a mistake was committed in West Bengal or not. “The Central Committee concluded that the electoral tactics adopted in West Bengal was not in consonance with the Central Committee decision not to have an alliance or understanding with the Congress,” Yechury told journalists after the meeting.
The use of the expression “not in consonance” has left room for interpretation by both sides. While several Central Committee members from West Bengal claimed after the meeting that the alliance was necessary in the state and would be pursued even in next Lok Sabha elections, those belonging to Karat’s camp insisted that this was a clear recognition of the mistake committed by party general secretary Yechury as well as the party's West Bengal unit.
Deep divide
Even the Central Committee’s emphasis on “the importance of adhering to the political-tactical line” adopted in the last triennial congress of the party, which is considered the highest decision-making body of the CPI(M), or its authorisation to the politburo “to ensure its implementation in consultation with the [West Bengal] state leadership” do not mean much. That's because the majority members of the members of the party's politburo are with Karat, the West Bengal’s state leadership stands behind Yechury.
The truce, therefore, is anything but permanent. “The real battle will be fought in the next party congress [due in 2018],” a Central Committee member from Kerala told Scroll.in.
The manner in which Sangwan resigned, and was then expelled from the party, made it clear that the CPI(M) has been plunged into a serious crisis. Sangwan is the general secretary of the party’s women wing, the All India Democratic Women’s Association.
“I told the meeting that it was wrong decision and the tie-up [with Congress in West Bengal] was a violation of the party’s political-tactical line,” she said after coming out of the central committee meeting. “Therefore, I have resigned from the party and all posts.”
Soon after that, however, a one-line statement issued by the party said: “The Central Committee of the CPI(M) now in session in New Delhi has decided to expel Jagmati Sangwan (member of the central committee) from the Party for gross indiscipline.”
Crossing the Lakshman rekha
Yechury might well have heaved a huge sigh of relief, given that the divide in the party is the result of dissent to his approach as well as that of the West Bengal party unit to the Congress. His opponents, led by Karat, blame Yechury and party’s West Bengal unit of crossing the Lakshman rekha. After all, it was opposition to the Congress that was at the root of the formation of the CPI(M) in 1964.
The counter-argument is no less compelling: an alliance with the Congress was necessary to counter the alleged terror of the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. Consolidating the alliance is necessary to ensure the consolidation of secular forces in the country, say Yechury's supporters.
Clearly, the die is cast. The CPI(M) is now a two-line party – a condition that had resulted in the first split in the Communist Party of India in 1964.