CALCUTTA, DECEMBER 19: Urging ``unhappy party members'' to join the forum for a political alternative in the state, the Paschimbanga Ganatantrik Manch (PGM) of expelled CPI(M) members, today held its first state-wide convention.Coinciding as it does with the media reports about growing dissension within the CPI(M) and also with open criticism of the party by state Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty, the convention by the expelled members is likely to add more colour to the development.The PGM, which claims to be the only forum representing CPI(M) dissidents and expelled party members, reportedly has Chakraborty's blessings.In the backdrop of disaffection among state CPI(M) leaders, including Chakraborty, Saifuddin Chowdhury, the former party MP, and others, PGM activists expressed the hope: ``We expect more leaders and party workers to join us in the near future.''One of the major leaders of the forum, Sumanta Hira, also the convenor, who had been with the CPI(M) since 1963 till he was expelled in1993, told The Indian Express: ``Our forum will fight undemocratic trends which the CPI(M) introduced in the Left movement in the state.''Echoing Chakraborty's open criticism of the party for its ``lack of democracy'', Hira said: ``We will also fight the ideological bankruptcy that the CPI(M) imposed on the state.''Hira, who believes that the ``Manch's fight is more against the present CPI(M) ideology'', also claimed that the PGM ``is getting good response from Left Front partners''. Elaborating on the PGM's stand on the Congress and the BJP, Hiren Sanyal said: ``So far we have decided to maintain equidistance from both parties but we will not close our door on the BJP workers who want to work with us on selective issues at the grassroots. For it's the economic development and not the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is our issue in West Bengal.''
