Kozhikode: CPI-M politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai on Saturday said that the party Central Committee will take a final decision on whether the party should ally with the Congress in West Bengal assembly polls.
“The Party Congress had decided that there should be no alliance with the Congress and that the election tactics being adopted should be in accordance with the Left Democratic Front’s principles. However, the Central Committee will discuss if that policy needs a change in Bengal,” Pillai said.
He said most leaders of the CPI-M in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh were opposed to allying with the Congress.
However, CPI-M leaders in West Bengal, including former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as well as Surjya Kanta Mishra and Mohammad Salim, have asked the Congress to side with the Left.
As per reports, all members of the PB (politburo) and CC (central committee) will be asked to convey their personal opinion before reaching a decision on the matter.
The two policy making bodies of the CPI-M are scheduled to meet next week in New Delhi -- the politburo on February 16 and the central committee on February 17-18. The former has 16 members and the latter 101.
The 21st Party Congress of the CPI-M held in Vishakapatnam in April last year had decided to maintain equal distance from both the BJP and the Congress.
But it had also decided that the party can form electoral alliances with "secular, democratic and pro-people" parties to fight "communal, undemocratic and anti-people parties.