Kozhikode: As the Congress of CPI-M began here
on Wednesday, the notable absentee was former West Bengal Chief
Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who chose not to attend the
meet citing "ill-health."
His absence would be felt at the Congress, which is slated
to discuss the electoral debacles faced by the party in the
assembly elections in West Bengal and Kerala, party sources
said.
While 180 delegates are participating in the Congress from
West Bengal, the highest among all states, 178 are taking part
in the meet from Kerala.
The Congress is being held at the Tagore Hall rechristened
for the Congress as Harkishan Singh Surjeet-Jyoti Basu Nagar.
Bhattacharjee has been skipping politburo and central
committee meetings for quite sometime, especially after the
party`s defeat in West Bengal in the 2009 Lok Sabha and 2011
assembly elections.
Bhattacharjee had replaced Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister in
2000 and won the assembly polls for the party in 2001 and
2006. However, in the 2011 elections, the party was routed by
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress.
PTI
