In the hour of crisis the ruling CPIM in West Bengal is trying to go back to the basic. After a two day long review meeting, the state committee came to realize that after being in power for the last 32 years now the party had lost touch with the people. The party now feels that the party had failed to meet the challenge thrown by TMC-Congress combine in the election, because it had lost touch with the people.
The party organization has failed to respond adequately to the anti-Left propaganda unleashed by the opposition in the state. The Left ruled state government also failed to deliver on the pro-poor programmes. A section of party workers also changed their lifestyle. The CPIM now admits that all these factors were responsible for the disastrous performance of the party in the recent poll. Now to regain their mass base, the party wants to press for the pro-poor programmes and schemes in the state.
While commenting on the deliberations and the findings by the party for its massive failure in the recent election, Biman Bose, the state secretary of CPIM, has admitted that a section of party workers have indulged into non-communist lifestyle and activities. With a tacit reference to growing corruption within the party, Biman Bose said that a section of party workers fell victim of the culture of 'neo-liberal society'. Indications are there that the party will initiate a major purge to weed them out.
While the party has given call to launch mass movement on issues which are close to the heart of poor people, like speedy implementation of rural electrification, the inclusion of genuine BPL people in the BPL list and issuance of BPL card to them, and proper implementation of various pro-poor programmes, they know that all these come under the purview of the state government.
For the first time, the CPIM state committee has been critical of the Left Front government and said that there had been some neglect in implementation of the pro-poor schemes and programmes in the state. The state committee has decided to take these up with the state government within a few days. It is interesting to note that the state committee could not and did not put the blame for their electoral setback on the central leadership, though a number of members tried to do that.
Prakash Karat, the general secretary of CPIM, was present in the meeting along with other politburo members Sitaram Yechuri and S R Pillai.
Karat did respond to the criticisms leveled against him for severing the relation with the UPA government on the issue of nuclear deal and then going for a third front which remained a non-starter. Karat admitted that the people did not accept the slogan for third front, but he also reminded the party members that all these decisions were taken unanimously by the central committee. The critics of Karat in the state committee had no answer to that. The party tried to take solace from the fact that there were over 1.85 crore of people who voted for the Left in this election.