Opinion August 27, 1979, Forty Years Ago: Left Unity
This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 27, 1979.
This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 27, 1979.
The CPM will have seats adjustments with the Janata(S)-Congress combine but no electoral alliance. This may well be the attitude of other Left parties also. At the same time, the five Left parties — CPM, CPI, RSP, PWP and Forward Bloc — will go for a common manifesto and joint electoral programme and are unwilling to be an integral part of the Janata(S)-Congress alliance. This strategy has almost been finalised during the CPM politburo meeting. CPI leader Rajeshwara Rao’s appeal to Left parties to chalk out a programme to contain the “communal and authoritarian forces” has been welcomed by Marxist leaders. Rao’s statement, it is pointed out, indicates that there is no love lost in the CPI for the Congress-I. Much significance is attached to the CPI national council’s censure of the Kerala unit of the CPI for making adjustments with the Congress-I in the state.
Nanaji On Alliance
Janata Party General Secretary Nanaji Deshmukh ruled out any electoral adjustment with the Congress-I anywhere in the country for the Lok Sabha mid-term poll. He was commenting on West Bengal Janata Leader P C Sen’s statement indicating such a partnership. Deshmukh said all the sitting members of his party would be given tickets, unless they chose not to contest. He added that Janata would contest nearly all the 543 Lok Sabha seats. However, some seats could be left for parties like the RPI (Khobragade group).
Havana For NAM
Cuban leaders are confident that the sixth non-aligned summit, which opens in Havana on August 28, will be a success despite the highly-charged atmosphere in which the conference was meeting. Cuban Vice-President Rafael Rodriguez and other top political and government functionaries said that as the host nation, Cuba will leave no stones unturned to preserve the unity of the non-aligned movement.
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