Discontent in Left over support to Congress

NEW DELHI, DEC 9: The decision of big brothers'' CPIM and CPI to snuggle up to the Congress has upset their smaller allies in the Lef...

NEW DELHI, DEC 9: The decision of 8220;big brothers8221; CPIM and CPI to snuggle up to the Congress has upset their smaller allies in the Left Front who say they were not consulted before the move was chalked out.

The All India Forward Bloc AIFB and the Revolutionary Socialist Party RSP are cut up that they were not consulted by the dominant partners in the Left Front before they began discussions to extend even issue-based support to the Congress should it form an alternative government at the Centre.

The position taken by the two smaller partners of the left front is turning out to be a major source of embarrasment for the CPIM which has its work cut out trying to convince its own cadres about the change in the party line vis-a-vis the Congress. In West Bengal and Kerala where the CPIM cadres have for years countered bloody attacks from the Congress, there is a lot of dissent against the stand taken by the party.

What has irked the Forward Bloc is that the CPIM which opposed the Congress fordecades, has today turned right round and is offering its support to the Congress.

8220;For 40 years the CPIM has blamed the Congress for its mishandling of the country8217;s economy. In West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala its cadres are locked in murderous battles with the Congress, yet the leadership is talking of supporting the Congress,8221; a senior Bloc leader said.

Stressing that the Forward Bloc would continue its earlier policy of maintaining equidistance from the Congress and the BJP, the Bloc leadership feels this is the best strategy against the twin dangers posed by the two 8220;bourgeois8221; parties. Holding the Congress responsible for the rise of the BJP, the Bloc leaders are not willing to even talk to the Congress leadership even if this means the disintegration of the Left Front.