Poll pact with Cong, others next test for Sitaram Yechuri
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury may keep the doors open for seat adjustment with the Congress and other opposition parties for the 2019 general election, having compelled the organization to include his vision in the party’s politicaltactical line in May this year.
While the CPI(M) remains averse to rushing into electoral alliances with opposition parties, the Yechury camp is certain that a combination of the opposition’s firepower is needed to take on the formidable BJP in next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
“Minimizing the contest between non-BJP parties will be important and, in many cases, holds the key to success,” Yechury said on Wednesday. The party’s options remain open on the post-poll situation, amid suggestions that it could provide outside support to any non-BJP formation if the situation arises.
Observers say the CPI(M), after a string of poll debacles, is scrambling to improve its electoral fortunes and sees seat adjustments as mutually beneficial. With the party’s footprint having
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shrunk in West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and some other states, the communists are desperate to reverse this trend.
The CPI(M), reeling from the losses in Tripura and West Bengal, will deliberate the idea at its forthcoming Central Committee meeting on October 6. But officials familiar with the developments indicate that Yechury’s ideas might face hurdles from the dogmatic section of the party led by leaders such as Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Insiders point out that two years ago, the politburo slammed the West Bengal unit after the latter went for an informal understanding with the Congress in the