Irked by the move of Election Commission to send a team of officials which includes police officers from other states to assess the situation in West Bengal, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has observed that it is 'unprecedented'.
After a two-day meeting of the CPI (M) politburo which ended here today, the party has said that "the decision of the Election Commission to send a team with the chief election officer of Bihar and five police officers from outside the state to assess the situation in various parts of the state is unprecedented. Such an unusual step will not contribute to the capacity of the state administration to organise free and fair elections."
The Election Commission's team has come to Kolkata today to assess the situation as a build up to the coming assembly elections in the wake of the continuing violence in rural Bengal for the past few months.
While Karat has indicated that the CPI(M) would like to seek clarifications from the Election Commission for the reasons behind the 'unprecedented move' it has initiated, he wondered how police officers from other states would be able to assess the situation on behalf of the Commission.
Though Karat today did not elaborate on this, the CPI(M) leaders were weary of the Election Commission's move lest it undermines the authority of the state government in the eyes of the public.
Indicating that the party is indeed into election mode in two crucial states of West Bengal and Kerala, Karat tried to put the blame of the recent violence in West Bengal on the the TMC and the Maoists.
He reminded that the reports of the Union home ministry clearly show that the violence of the last one and half years has its root in the collaboration between the TMC and the Maoists.
Also, evidence about the collaboration has come from a variety of sources. The book of a sitting Trinamul MP (Kabir Suman) has cited instances of such collaboration.
The CPI(M) central committee in its press communiqué said, "Recently, in Cuttack, a Trinamul Congress leader was arrested for taking two injured Maoisis from West Midnapore district for treatment to a hospital there. The Trinamul Congress has been demanding an end to the joint operations against the Maoist squads."
Yet, the Central Government turns a blind eye to this collaboration and the Union home minister P Chidambaram wrote a letter to the chief minister accusing the CPI (M) of having armed cadres and fomenting violence.
On the issue of price rise, Karat indicated that the Left would like to act in close cooperation with the other secular democratic political parties with a view to start a nationwide agitation. Putting the blame on the Centre's policy for the price rise of food items, he reminded that the TMC as a partner in the UPA government could not avert the responsibility.
However, while reiterating the party's demand for the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the issue of 2G spectrum scam, Karat has made it clear that his party is not in favour of obstructing Parliament in the forthcoming budget session.
However, he explained, "There are two parameters to it. We want the demand of JPC to be granted. Also, we would like the parliament session to take place. But we can't take the decision. We have decided to discuss with the secular opposition parties to devise a common strategy."
The politburo in its two-day session heard reports of the preparations for the assembly elections in the four states of West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherri.
The state committees of the concerned states will be meeting shortly to finalise the arrangements for fighting the elections.
