THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as CPM boss Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI leaders engage in petty fights over their past ties and nature of agitations, top Left Front leaders of West Bengal have sounded a caution against the Marxists’ ‘big brother’ attitude which, they say, was one of the major reasons for the Left’s near- decimation.
West Bengal CPI state secretary Manju Kumar Majumdar recalled the CPM’s ‘big brother’ attitude when the Left Front was in power.
“Yes they used to have that attitude and because of it we suffered a lot. But with the attack from the TMC and the BJP, the situation has changed on the ground. The CPM is now for strengthening the front at least in Bengal,” he added.
RSP’s top leader Kshiti Goswami, who threatened to quit the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government in 2007 over Nandigram issue, said the CPM’s “dadagiri” (bossism) which had cost the Left Front dearly, was not there now.
“I think Kerala comrades need to learn from Bengal. The CPM had become sectarian, tried to impose its policies on other constituents which resulted in Nandigram and Singur. We criticised them on many occasions but they refused to listen,” he added.
The Left leaders in West Bengal believe that at a time when Left parties were trying to broaden its coalition at the national level, Kerala comrades should also think on the same lines.
“Instead of fighting amongst ourselves, it’s time for all to stand unitedly to face the challenge posed by communal forces,’’ said Mr Kshiti Goswami.
Former minster and Forward Bloc leader Hafiz Alam Sairani said that till the time of Jyoti Basu, the Left Front worked as a well-knit cohesive front.
“The industrial policy mooted by the CPM was implemented aggressively after Jyoti Babu’s departure. We and the RSP opposed the policy.
But they went ahead and you can see what happened later. The Left Front which once had a strong base among agricultural workers and the poor in rural Bengal and the working class in urban Bengal, started losing out gradually because of the one-upmanship of the CPM.”
He said that while there was no point in crying over what had happened, the CPM and other Left parties should learn lessons to ensure that these mistakes were not repeated.
