I’M NOT PROCONG, BUT WANT TO DEFEAT BJP: YECHURY

HYDERABAD: Communist Party of India(marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday rejected allegations about his “pro-congress” mindset and told the 22nd Party Congress that his “only objective is to defeat the BJP.”

Hours after his predecessor Prakash Karat presented the political resolution in the mega meet, in a rare departure from the norm, Yechury stood up to present what he called “the minority point of view ”.

He insisted that there should be a scope of political understanding with other parties. “I am not a Congress man. I am not asking for an alliance with the Congress. There are allegations that I am advocating for them. I am not,” said Yechury, while he appealed for a unified view on the issue of political tactical line.

Karat, who enjoys the majority support, said that electoral politics should not be mixed with the political, tactical line. “This resolution is for three years, but during elections, we will take suitable steps to defeat the BJP,” he said, adding that in 2004, the Left had supported the UPA without any specific mention of the move in the resolution.

While the Karat faction has been against any understanding with the Congress, the Yechury faction has favoured joining hands with all secular parties to fight the BJP.

Two senior leaders of West Bengal unit, which is backing Yechury, said, “If there is no middle path, there will be voting on Friday.” Casting votes on political line could be a rare and em- barrassing step, as it exposes the fault line within the state units.