Talks of CPI(M)-Congress tie-up losing steam

The talks of state CPI(M) leaders demanding electoral alliance with Congress is slowly losing its steam after they realised that it would be difficult to rope in the Central Committee members.

There are 91 Central Committee members. The two day meeting of the Central Committee came to an end on Wednesday and the decision will be taken on Thursday. The state CPI(M) leaders have realised that if voting is held on the issue, it will not go in their favour. The politburo had failed to arrive at a conclusion at its meeting held on Tuesday.

Gautam Deb pleaded strongly in favour of the alliance with the life of common people been badly hit and under such a situation alliance with Congress was a must. “It is the need of the hour and we should not make any mistakes this time,” he said.

Party insiders said that P Vijayan, K Balakrishnan and MA Baby had spoken against the alliance. They said that the ideology of the party was more important than forming an alliance with the Congress in a state. Brinda Karat also spoke against the alliance. The pro Prakash karat leaders know that if the alliance is accepted then they will indirectly support the claim by some leaders that the party did badly in 2014 Lok sabha polls by taking a hasty decision to break ties with Congress and the subsequent withdrawal of support from the UPA II government.

The leaders from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu felt that any alliance would tarnish the image of the party. Another question was raised if the party should make electoral adjustments with AIDMK and DMK in Tamil Nadu.

The silence of Congress High Command on the issue has put the WBPCC leaders at a fix. A senior AICC leader said that they were keeping a tab on the situation and waiting for the central committee’s decision. “The high command will not take any decision in haste. We find that there is resentment among PCC leaders over the alliance and we are studying the organisational strength of the party.”