Deccan Chronicle

CPM’S FOCUS IS ON DEFEATING BJP WITHOUT SIDING WITH CONG

Draft resolution comes across as self-contradict­ory

- SREEPARNA CHAKRABART­Y | DC NEW DELHI, FEB 13

The move for Opposition unity before the 2019 general elections continued to stumble as the draft political resolution taken up at the CPM Party Congress on Tuesday ruled out any truck with chief opposition party Congress despite declaring BJP as enemy number one.

The draft appeared to be self-contradict­ory as it could not provide a vision as to how to defeat the BJP without any electoral understand­ing with the Congress.

The move for Opposition unity before the 2019 general elections continued to stumble as the draft political resolution to be taken up by the CPM party, which was released on Tuesday, ruled out any truck with the chief opposition party Congress despite declaring BJP as enemy number one. The draft appeared to be self-contradict­ory at many places as it could not provide a vision of how to defeat the BJP without any electoral understand­ing with the Congress, which is the biggest Opposition party at the national level. There was no clarity also on post-poll options before the party.

The so-called “politicalt­actical” line of the party in fact seemed confused on how to deal with the Congress.

For example in the section on the ‘Political Line’, the document at first said that “the main task is to defeat the BJP and its allies by rallying all the secular and democratic forces.

However, this has to be done without having an understand­ing or electoral alliance with the Congress party”. However, merely some sentences later, the draft says “appropriat­e electoral tactics to maximise the pooling of the antiBJP votes should be adopted” without explaining as to how antiBJP votes can be maximised without aligning with Congress.

Sources said the final draft, which was released on Tuesday for public debate, was a “substantia­l climb down” from the majority draft circulated at the Central Committee meeting last month.

 ?? — PTI ?? Congress president Rahul Gandhi with the saints at Anubhava Mantapa in Karnataka on Tuesday.
— PTI Congress president Rahul Gandhi with the saints at Anubhava Mantapa in Karnataka on Tuesday.

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