A chop for Karat

The decision of the CPMs Bengal unit not to join the Lefts jail bharo agitation on rising prices has drawn criticism from smaller Left parties. But it surely did not surprise them. Since the CPM in Bengal had taken a position against jail bharo agitations in the past,it is heard that the CPI and Forward Bloc had warned about such a possibility at a meeting of top Left leaders which decided on the protest plan. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat apparently assured them that the Bengal unit would be on board this time. When the decision was announced some days later,Bengal CPM state secretary Biman Bose himself was present. Now that the Bengal unit has torpedoed the plan,allies are quietly saying that they have a better understanding about the CPM and the mind of its Bengal comrades than perhaps Karat himself.