Communist Party of India (Marxist): Nandigram, Singur were mistakes, admit Prakash Karat

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, June 12: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has finally admitted that the mistakes with regard to Singur and Nandigram proved costly in the recent Assembly election in West Bengal, where the party lost
power of 34 years of rule.
Briefing reporters after the conclusion of the two-day Central Committee meeting of the party here on Sunday, CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat said notwithstanding the big achievements of the Left Front governments over the last three decades, there were shortcomings and weaknesses in some of the policies and measures adopted for the welfare of people. But he ruled out any change in leadership.
The Central Committee, which met for the first time after the recent elections in four States and an Union Territory, examined the reasons for the "big defeat" of the Left Front in West Bengal. It identified the causes for the erosion of support for the CPI(M) and the Left Front among different sections of people.
"The mistakes with regard to Singur and Nandigram proved costly. The review also identified the organisational defects and shortcomings which have alienated various sections of people. The Review Report adopted by the Central Committee has set out some of the corrective steps to be taken at the political and organisational level," Karat said.
The Central Committee rejected the criticism that the electoral defeat in West Bengal has rendered the CPI(M) and the Left politically irrelevant. The Left Front, despite the adverse circumstances, has got 1.95 crore votes which is 41
per cent of the total votes, he pointed out.
The party warned that UPA government at the Centre may be emboldened to push more vigorously for neo-liberal policies given the loss of the Left-led governments in West Bengal and Kerala. "Their attempt to heap more burdens on the people through such policies will be strongly resisted by the CPI(M) and the Left forces," Prakash said adding that the Central government will try to ride roughshod over the rights of the states and encroach further on Centre-State relations.
Referring to "attacks on Left Front workers" he said the party will take up agitation for a week from July 1. Stating that the Left parties have the credibility and the record to fight against corruption in high places, Prakash Karat supported the demand for an effective Lokpal legislation, which brings the Prime Minister also under its purview, and the setting up of a National Judicial Commission to oversee the judiciary.
The Central Committee decided o hold the 20th Congress of the party in the beginning of April, 2012 in Kerala. The exact venue will be decided shortly, he added.