At the heart of the current infighting in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is the legacy of Harkishan Singh Surjeet, and who from among former party chief Prakash Karat and current chief Sitaram Yechury, would become its true inheritor in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
In 1996, and again in 2003-04, Surjeet played a key role to bring regional parties, the Congress and Left parties together to form a coalition government at the Centre to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at bay.
In the Congress and other regional parties, there is a consensus that such a moment beckons,