Times change, Left doesn’t: No, again

It was a day full of deja vu. At the end of the marathon Central Committee meeting, the CPI(M) came out — as they did eight years ago &...

It was a day full of deja vu. At the end of the marathon Central Committee meeting, the CPI(M) came out — as they did eight years ago — to say ‘no’ to power-sharing at the Centre. They will support the Congress-led government from outside, with a reluctant CPI giving in for the sake of ‘‘Left unity’’.

‘‘We (the Left Parties) fought the election on the plank of defeating the BJP and putting a secular government in place, we have achieved our objective. On the nature of our cooperation — we thoroughly exchanged our views, we will not participate. The situation has not changed radically (since 1996) and this gives a scope to disagree,’’ Harkishen Singh Surjeet, summed up the last three long days of ‘‘yes-they-may’’ and ‘‘no-we-will-not’’ CPI(M) scripted drama on participation in the government.

The all-Left coordination meeting today afternoon — the CPI really thought they could pressurise the CPI(M) into reversing the CC’s decision — was a matter of formality with both CPI(M) and Forward Bloc sticking to the stand that ‘‘the Congress is after all a bourgeois party’’, how can the Left be an integral part of such a formation led by it.

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Earlier in the day, Bardhan made it quite clear that the CPI feels that ‘‘participation in the government would meet the people’s aspirations and help present stability of the government’’. But he would still go along with ‘‘the collective Left view’’.

Sources said the CPI national executive, which is again meeting on June 11-13, may reconsider the question of joining the government at the Centre. ‘‘By then, the CPI(M) would be ready and we would know what kind of policies the Congress is likely to follow,’’ a senior CPI leader said.

As for the CPI(M), Karat’s view would hold good: ‘‘We will not join the government. Our central committee has taken that view. There’s no question of reconsideration. But we will ensure that the BJP does not come back to power.’’

Day after PM Modi’s visit to the town, Manipur’s Churachandpur sees violent protest

India1 hr ago

Protests in Manipur's Churachandpur turned violent as two men were arrested for damaging decorations for PM Modi's visit. The crowd demanded their release and attempted to storm the police station. The men were eventually released after a bail hearing. The incident occurred after a clash between locals and police on Thursday, but the situation had calmed down before Saturday's visit.

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