New Delhi: The CPI(M) Politburo on Saturday
began a two-day meeting to finalise a document to deal with
its organisational problems which led to its rout in the
recent polls in its strongholds of West Bengal and Kerala.
The purpose of the meeting is to give final touches to
amend and strengthen its "rectification document" that had
been prepared several years ago.
The meeting is being attended by all top leaders
barring West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee,
who is not well, and the party`s Kerala Secretary Pinarayi
Vijayan.
The Central Committee had met almost two months ago to
discuss the factional infighting in its Kerala unit. The top
brass had later met and removed its senior-most leader and
Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan from the Politburo.
Earlier, the CC had also debated the electoral debacle
which had resulted in the CPI(M) parliamentary strength to
fall sharply from 42 in the 14th Lok Sabha to 16 in the 15th.
The document is likely to carry out a "self-critical
evaluation" and recommend steps to stem the party`s
organisational rot. The issues to be dealt with range from
factionalism and ideological deviation to corruption.
The party is expected to ask its leadership at all
levels to unite and launch militant mass movements on issues
directly affecting the people, like price rise, drought and
the impact of the economic downslide.
Buddha skips politburo meet
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee skipped the CPI-M`s two-day politburo meeting
on health grounds as party sources
scotched rumours about any political reasons behind it.
CPI-M sources said that the Chief Minister, who had
just recovered from viral fever, was advised by doctors not to
take any immediate strain. This had led the state leadership
to ask him to stay back in the city.
Dismissing rumours doing rounds in political circles that
Bhattacharjee was deliberately avoiding the meeting, sources
said, the CM had been administered antibiotics to overcome the
viral infection as he was feeling weak.
"There is not much to read in his illness," sources said.
This is the second time after the Lok Sabha elections
that Bhattacharjee would not attend the politburo meeting in
Delhi. He had skipped the chief ministers` conference convened
by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in August.
CPI-M state Secretary and politburo member, Biman Bose,
who has already left for Delhi, had said yesterday that since
Bhattacharjee is not keeping well, he has been advised to stay
back and attend office.
Bureau Report
