Chandy terms CPI-M discussion as 'belated wisdom'

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday took a dig at CPI-M on their discussion on party's "tactical line" and termed it as "belated wisdom".

Initially he refused to comment on the CPI-M discussion saying it was their internal party matter, but when journalists pointed out that withdrawing support to UPA government was also an agenda, Chandy said, "I think it is a belated wisdom on their part."

Referring to CPI-M veteran late Joyti Basu's remark that refusing to accept the post of Prime Minister was "historic blunder" on the part of CPI-M, Chandy said, "I have an apt word to say about CPI-M withdrawing support to Congress-led UPA-I, but I am not saying that now.

"They (CPI-M) thought that government will fall when they withdrew support. But on the contrary, the UPA government did not fall and Congress-led UPA again came back to power after the polls," Chandy said.

CPI-M's downfall started then and Left parties would lose significance further if they did not change their stand realising the ground reality of the political situation in the country, he said.

State CPI leader Panniyam Raveedran had recently stated that withdrawintg support to UPA-I government by the Left parties was not a correct political step.

Chandy's remark came against the backdrop of the ongoing CPI-M Central Committee meeting in Delhi debating on the correctness of the political-tactical line adopted at the party's Jalandhar Congress in 1978.