It146;s introspection time for CPM

CPI M General Secretary, Prakash Karat, who has been finding faults with the Congress8217; Gujarat campaign...

CPI M General Secretary, Prakash Karat, who has been finding faults with the Congress8217; Gujarat campaign, needs to set his own house in order first. The election results in Himachal Pradesh has underlined why CPI M should be worried about electoral defeat and rethink on expanding the organisation. As it was in Bhavnagar North in Gujarat, in Himachal too, the party8217;s best performance was emerging first runner-up in one seat. While the party had contested for one seat in Gujarat, in Himachal, it contested for seven and drew a zero.

In Shimla, party8217;s Sanjay Chauhan finished second to the BJP8217;s Suresh Bhardwaj. Unlike Bhavnagar North, here the Congress had fielded a candidate. Interestingly, both Chauhan and Congress8217; Harbhajan Singh Bhajji together polled 5,742 votes more than the BJP candidate8217;s 12,443.

Had the 8220;secular solidarity8221; helped the CPI M and the Congress to come together, at least three seats would not have had the BJP as winner. Though it would not have altered the ultimate results, the secular plank would have certainly got a boost. For example, in Banjar, the BJP defeated the Congress by a margin of 232 votes, and the CPI M here polled 1,334 votes. In Ani constituency, the BJP won by a margin of 1,449 votes, and the CPI M candidate here bagged 3,323 votes.

Both the main Left parties had contested for the Akri seat. While the CPI M got 2.66 per cent votes, the CPI got 1.08 per cent votes. The BJP bagged 45.70 per cent and won the seat. The independent candidate, who was second, got 31.27 per cent votes and the Congress got 16.34 per cent votes. The CPI lost all the eight seats it had contested in the state.

The results of all the recent elections 8212; in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal 8212; give enough reason for the CPI M to introspect ahead of the next party congress, to be held next year. The political resolution adopted at the last party congress had emphasised on 8220;an all-sided struggle against communalism8221; and 8220;strengthen the Left and democratic forces all over the country8221;. 8220;The Party has to build on the success of dislodging the BJP from the Centre and initiate a broad campaign to roll back the vantage points gained by the communal forces in different spheres of society 8212; political, educational and cultural,8221; the party had said. But assessing from the recent election results, the efforts in this direction still remain a far cry for the party.

Winners 038; Losers

Prominent BJP winners

8226; Prem Kumar Dhumal Bamson

8226; Gulab Singh Thakur Jogindernagar

8226; Roop Singh Thakur Sundernagar

8226; Suresh Bhardwaj Shimla

8226; J P Nadda Bilaspur

8226; Mohinder Singh Dharampur

8226; Narinder Bragta Jubbal-Kotkhai

8226; Hari Narain Saini Nalagrah

8226; Rajeev Bindal Solan

8226; Krishan Kapoor Dharamshala