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Journalism of Courage
CALCUTTA, May 3: West Bengal Chief Minister and senior CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu has admitted that corruption, nepotism and the tendency of leaders to openly criticise the political line is on the rise within the party.
In an interview published in the CPI(M) mouthpiece, Ganashakti on the occasion of May Day, Basu warned Marxist cadres that the rot which has set in may ultimately destroy the party. “The corruption that we see in our party, though negligible in comparison to other parties, is going to be tackled in a severe way. We periodically review the goings-on with a view to strengthening ourselves. Our central committee has formalised a document to guide our purification process in different states,” he said.
In, what is seen as, a gentle warning to his top leaders, whose infighting and scant regard for the old-world “discipline” has clearly annoyed him, Basu said “our rule of sticking by the majority decision is being flouted these days. ”
He noted that factionalism is increasing in the CPI(M). This was an obvious reference to the rivalry between the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya camp and the Asim Dasgupta camp, which has derailed some positive programmes of late.
The interview was reportedly planned by the Biman Bose-Anil Biswas camp, which controls the CPI(M) state secretariat and is diametrically opposite to the other camp controlled by Buddhadeb, being touted as Basu’s successor.
