Opinion Party planning

In an article in party mouthpiece People’s Democracy,General Secretary Prakash Karat says “the forces which are ranged against the Left Front are not going to be united permanently.” He stresses that with the adoption of “correct tactics” and the single-minded resolve to go to the people,the situation can be turned around. He also holds both the party and the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government responsible for the electoral setbacks. The alienation of some sections of the people,he points out,cannot be attributed to the functioning of the Left Front government alone. “The causes of such alienation lie in the political sphere and also in the organisational shortcomings and weaknesses of the party.” “The steps that are being taken to overcome the shortcomings and reforge the links with the people are,

therefore,to be taken up in the three spheres — governmental,political and organisational which are interlinked,” he says.

The Iran interest

The CPM wants the Manmohan Singh government to strengthen its relations with Iran notwithstanding the fresh sanctions imposed on Tehran by the United Nations.

The lead editorial in People’s Democracy says although India had gone on record that it does not think sanctions are the way to tackle the problem,the Manmohan Singh government

had fallen in line with the US whenever Iran was targeted in the IAEA.

“It is the IAEA resolution which opened the way for sanctions by the Security Council.

The US keeps patting India on the back for this stance.” The CPM nudges the UPA to “realise that India’s true interest lies in strengthening relations with Iran and extending our

economic and trade ties especially in the energy sector.”

Fraying coalition

At a time when the BJP-JD(U) ties in Bihar have come under strain,the CPI has come out in praise of Nitish Kumar. An article in party mouthpiece New Age says a section of the JD(U) — read Sharad Yadav — and the BJP are in league to cut the chief minister to size.

It says that while Nitish used the poster issue for moving away from the BJP,but it was “astonishing” to see that Yadav came forward immediately to assert that there is nothing wrong with the coalition and that relations with the BJP remained cordial. In this context,the article also mentions the contrary views expressed by Yadav and Nitish on the women’s reservation bill. “The BJP may have won over Yadav but he is himself losing control over the organisation that is fighting for space with the rising popularity of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,who has proved himself to be the man of action and of good administration after decades of mismanagement by the earlier rulers of the state,” it says. The article adds that Nitish is cutting off from the saffron parivar in the hope of garnering minority votes,with his record of “good rule” in the last five years.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.