New Delhi: As the CPI(M) planned to mobilise around 25 lakh people across the country for their `Jail Bharo` agitation against price rise next month, its West Bengal unit will not be part of the programme but would do picketing only.
Defending the state unit`s decision, senior Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said since the Left Front government was in power in Bengal, "the state never had a `jail bharo` (fill the jails) mode of protest".
"They will have their own form of agitation. The basic point is that we will have at least 25 lakh people courting arrest as part of our agitation," Yechury told reporters as the two-day Politburo meeting began here.
Four Left parties, which held a mass protest near Parliament a fortnight ago, have planned to intensify their protests against price rise by giving a call to fill the
prisons on April 8.
Bengal State Secretary and Politburo member Biman Bose said they will implement the protest action, but not do `jail bharo`.
Asked whether the issue of municipal elections slated in May was discussed in the Polit Bureau meeting, Yechury replied in the negative. "It was not on the agenda of the
meeting. First, the state committee will meet and send a report on the matter. Then we will discuss the issue," he said.
PTI
