After the top Marxist leadership early this week dropped hints of a possible truck with the Congress, Bengal Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury has reciprocated saying regardless of basic ideological differences the grassroots workers of his party were already drifting leftwards.
The mutual pull between the two sides became more evident on Thursday with senior PCC member OP Mishra writing to the party high command in favour of a left-Congress alliance. “There is no question of any alliance with the Trinamool Congress” Chowdhury told media men. On whether there was any possibility of a pre-electoral alliance with the left he said “irrespective of what the leaders say there is already a tendency of an alliance at the grassroots level between the two sides.”
On whether such a decision carried AICC’s approval Chowdhury said: “Even before the top leadership has taken any decision the rank and file has decided to ally with each other. Survival instinct and not a political game plan has stoked this strong opinion for a left-Congress alliance,” Chowdhury said.
Both CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and his predecessor Prakash Karat had earlier dropped hints of a possible climb-down in the party’s rigid stance vis a vis Congress even as they said that the State committees would take the decisions regarding alliances and such decisions would be endorsed by the politburo.
Meanwhile even as the Marxists gravitated towards the Congress cracks tend to have appeared within the left Front where parties like Forward Bloc have expressed their reservation against a Congress-left tie-up.
According to sources the Bloc leadership was “keeping a close watch on the developments in the CPI(M) extended party plenum in Kolkata.” A section of the Bloc leadership has expressed reservations about an alliance with the Congress. “There is no difference between the Congress and the BJP insofar as their economic policies are concerned. Instead of an alliance with the Congress, a broader understanding among the left outfits will be more fruitful for future,” said a Bloc leader adding the party would have to think differently if “alliance is forced.”
When contacted a CPI(M) leader and a Central committee member said the Marxist party was free to take its own line as per changing political circumstances and added “even in Kerala one of our left partner is in the lDF.” But such differences would not jeopardise the broader adhesive within the Front, he said.
Meanwhile, Trinamool general secretary Partho Chatterjee refused to attach any importance to the left-Congress camaraderie saying: “Marxists are a diminishing force and so they are trying to piggy-ride the Congress while the Congress is a ideology-less party which is trying to ally with the left for its survival.”