Comrades show strong withdrawal symptoms

They told the leadership that they couldn8217;t face an election with the present arrangement. Central Committee members felt that the Government had miserably failed in arresting price rise. They were of the view that the Government was more interested in the Indo-US nuclear deal than containing inflation.

Members from Bengal and Kerala said the party should take immediate steps to distance itself from the Congress. Most of the CC members from West Bengal said the Panchayat poll setback had something to do with the alliance with the Congress at the Centre.

A Central Committee member said that there was a consensus in the CC that it would be suicidal for the CPM to go to polls with the current arrangement. 8220;When and on what issue we will withdraw support is yet to be finalised. But it has certainly been hotly debated in this CC,8221; he said.

The Bengal group thinks much more than the nuclear deal, the rise in price of commodities and petrol is an issue on which the Left could serve ultimatum on the UPA. The Bengal group in the CC was not in favour of withdrawing support on the nuclear deal because it is a complex subject with no mass appeal.

It will be difficult to explain to the common man the intricacies and the impact of the nuclear deal.

There are basic differences within the Bengal group over the utility of nuclear power. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, for example, is in favour of nuclear power unlike hardliners such as Prakash Karat who are not only against the deal but against nuclear power as well.

CPM leader Mohammed Salim, when contacted, said that withdrawal of support from the UPA was not on the agenda but issues such as price rise were taken up for discussion. 8220;We have urged the UPA government to initiate corrective steps on this issues. First we want to see how the UPA government responds. The next step will be decided after that,8221; he said.

The decision-making body of the party today also discussed the party8217;s West Bengal unit8217;s report on the panchayat polls, in the wake of the losses it suffered in Nandigram and Singur.

While admitting that there was no need for reversing the government8217;s industrialisation policy, the Central Committee was of the view that there were serious errors in the way the policy was implemented and sought 8220;utmost care.8221;

Quite in tune with the mood of the CC, the CPM today released in advance the editorial of the latest issue of People8217;s Democracy which says that the UPA is losing political and electoral support because of growing popular discontent as it has failed to do justice to the CMP. 8220;The Left8217;s support to the UPA government, an expression of its consistent commitment to keep the communal combination away from power at the Centre, is based on the CMP. Pressures will be mounted for implementing its content, while popular struggles will be strengthened on every departure from the CMP. In its final year, this UPA government must redeem its promises made in the CMP,8221; the editorial says.

Emerging out of the CC meeting, politburo member Sitaram Yechury said that there was a need to stop growing public discontent against the government and ensure that communal forces do not benefit from it. 8220;The Karnataka verdict is a clear indication of the discontent due to price rise and continuing agrarian crisis,8221; Yechury said.