KOLKATA, May 13 - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Tuesday dissociated itself from the comments by maverick party leader Subhas Chakraborty that it was impossible to fight imperialism without the Congress.

In a sharp reaction to Chakraborty’s remarks, CPI-M West Bengal state secretary Biman Bose said the party has no connection with his political assessment of the Congress and over the issue of joining the Congress-led government at the centre in 2004.

‘The comment made by comrade Subhas Chakraborty in an interview to a private news channel May 11 has no connection with the political positioning of the CPI-M,’ Bose said in a statement.

‘His assessment of the Congress party goes against the understanding of our party. What he (Chakraborty) has said regarding the decision of not joining a Congress-led government in 2004 is contrary to the resolution of the Central Committee and the Party Congress.

‘The support to the Congress-led government was withdrawn by the party in July last year based on the unanimous decision by the Central Committee,’ the statement said.

In an interview to a private Bengali television news channel, Star Ananda, Chakraborty described the Congress as traditionally the biggest anti-imperialist force in the country, also terming US imperialism as the biggest threat to the world.

New Delhi, May 2 : Electioneering in 40 degrees Celsius-plus temperatures is sending an increasing number of politicians to health checkup clinics, say doctors, though the candidates themselves are loath to admit it.

Long hours of campaigning in this summer and reduced sleep make politicians prone to heart attacks, doctors say. As an example, they point to 50-year-old Indrajit Purakait, a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader, who lost the district council elections in West Bengal in 2008. Unable to bear the shock, Purakait had a heart attack and died. His experience should serve as a warning to other politicians, the doctors say.

At least some politicians are taking the warning seriously. Haji Mohammed Yunus, who is contesting on the Bahujan Samaj Party ticket against sitting MP Sandeep Dikshit in the East Delhi constituency, told IANS: “I have been campaigning for long hours in the scorching heat which takes away all energy. Just before starting the campaign trail I had visited a doctor for a health checkup.”

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Jai Prakash Aggarwal, contesting from the Northeast Delhi constituency, has been taking care of his health by going on morning walks and keeping a check on his diet.

“Though I don’t visit a doctor for any regular health checkup, I do make sure to go for an early morning walk and to have a good night’s sleep. I am also keeping a check on my diet,” Aggarwal told IANS.

K.K. Aggarwal, senior cardiologist at Moolchand Medcity, said: “Due to the hectic pre-poll campaigning which requires long-distance walking, many candidates are reporting for checkups related to heart, blood pressure and diabetes.”

Aggarwal, who is also president of the Heart Care Foundation of India, says that candidates should meditate and also practise yoga to reduce stress.

Said Sanjay Mittal, senior cardiologist, Metro Hospitals and Heart Institute, Noida: “During the election period contestants are very cautious about their health and report for health checkups because they have to cover long distances on foot for campaigning. Those who are heart patients are feeling the brunt of poll stress.”

Many political leaders in the country are suffering from one health problem or the other. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had heart bypass surgery this January. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also had bypass surgery in 2001. Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ram Vilas Paswan underwent angioplasty in 2005 to clear a blockage in a cardiac artery.

New Delhi, Apr 29 : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Wednesday asked Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Navin Chawla to intervene in the "gross misuse of official machinery" in Tamil Nadu's Madurai Lok Sabha constituency where Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's son M.K. Azhagiri is contesting.

Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK was adopting "unlawful methods" to solicit votes in the constituency, where the CPI-M has fielded P. Mohan against Azaghiri, Karat alleged in a letter to the CEC.

"The past few weeks have witnessed gross misuse of the official machinery and an unprecedented use of money and goods to lure voters. There have been physical attacks against CPI-M workers including (a legislator)."

He alleged that the district administration had failed to stop such activities by the ruling party and "no effective and serious steps have been taken to stop the malpractices and ensure a free and fair poll".

Asking Chawla to intervene immediately, Karat said the district election officer, the city police commissioner and the public relations officer should be immediately transferred out of their present responsibilities.

"Impartial officers must be assigned to poll duties," Karat said.

Tamil Nadu goes to polls in the last phase of elections May 13.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) will use its rich experience of running a Left Front government in West Bengal to make the Third Front a success if it wins the Lok Sabha elections, says the party's politburo member Biman Bose.

He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of encouraging "divisive and fissiparous" forces by aligning with the pro-Gorkhaland Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) in the Darjeeling constituency in the northern part of the state.

Secretary of the CPI-M's powerful West Bengal unit, Bose told IANS in an interview, "The Third Front, the way the Left parties have initiated it, is not just a conglomeration of different parties."

He said to make a Third Front government workable, "there will be a Common Minimum Programme which will be accepted by all the constituents.

"I am hopeful this is possible. We have the experience in West Bengal where nine parties have been running the state government for more than 30 years. We consider the Left Front as less than a party and more than a front.

"If we can apply this practice in forming the Third Front and can move accordingly, we can set up a sustainable government at the centre."

Bose underlined that the Left started coalition politics long before other political parties in India. The Left Front government led by the CPI-M came to power in West Bengal in 1977 and has won successive elections.

He dismissed as "meaningless" Congress president Sonia Gandhi's comment that the Third Front was born out of some of its leaders' ambition to become prime minister. "She should remember that in any case the prime minister has to be elected."

Asked if West Bengal Chief Minister Buddahdeb Bhattacharjee could be one of the candidates for prime ministership, he called the question hypothetical.

Bose came down heavily on the BJP decision to field heavyweight Jaswant Singh from Darjeeling with the support of the GJM.

"The way the BJP has shown sympathy for the GJM and its Gorkhaland demand in its election manifesto, that will help the divisive and fissiparous forces to divide West Bengal.

"The BJP is playing a dangerous game with the GJM. This will definitely break the unity and amity of the people in the hills and plains of Darjeeling," Bose contended.

Bose discounted speculation that the Congress-Trinamool combine could end up with a much greater share of seats than in the previous elections five years ago.

In 2004, the Left Front bagged 35 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, while the Congress and the Trinamool got six and one respectively.

"This combination cannot gain more seats since electoral results do not depend on arithmetic calculation," he said.

He also disagreed with the view that the Congress-Trinamool combine was severely denting the Left Front's traditional rural base.

"It's a fact that in last year's panchayat (rural bodies) polls, the Left lost seats. But still we got more than 52 percent of the votes."

He contended that the Left Front suffered reverses in the panchayat elections because of disunity in its ranks, leading to the partners fighting each other in more than 10,000 seats. He claimed that the differences had been ironed out this time.

Criticising the Congress, the fulcrum of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Bose said: "It is now becoming a victim of rightist forces. Their policies are not meant for the common people. Rather, they are aimed to benefit the wealthy sections."

He said it was a pity the 123-year-old Congress was fighting the elections in West Bengal as the junior partner of Trinamool, its breakaway group.

On Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee's call that it was battle for "mother, land and people", Bose said: "Their so-called 'mother, land and people' battle is not covering 543 constituencies across India. It is concentrated only in the 42 seats from the state."

Patna, Apr 26 : Senior Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Sunday called for the need of a secular non-Congress government at the Centre.


Speaking to media persons here, Yechury said that such a government would fight against communalism and work for the welfare of the masses.

‘We want that an alternate non-Congress, secular government is formed in the country which will fight against communalism and introduce policy changes for welfare of the people,’ observed Yechury.

Yechury, on Saturday, had slammed Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi for his criticism of the performance of the Left Front government in West Bengal, saying the performance of the government would be decided by the people.

‘Everybody in the country has the right to have his or her opinion and so does Rahul Gandhi. Let him have his opinion. But the ultimate yardstick in any democracy whether the government has been working in favour of people or not, will be decided by the people in the elections,’ Yechury had said in New Delhi.

Kolkata, April 14 : Contrary to indications given by his party leaders, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Tuesday ruled out supporting or aligning with the Congress after the Lok Sabha elections.

The top CPI-M leader lambasted the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which his party had supported for four years, for “subordinating” the country’s interests to the US and for following anti-people economic policies at the diktats of Washington and international financial capitals.

“So, there is no question of arriving at an alliance or understanding with the Congress after the elections.

That’s why we have given a call for defeating both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” Karat said during a meet-the-press programme at the Kolkata Press Club.

His comments came days after West Bengal Chief Minister and CPI-M politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee declined to rule out the possibility of the Left parties supporting a Congress-led government at the centre after the polls.

Bhattacharjee said the matter would depend on the post-election scenario.

CPI-M state secretary Biman Bose also left open the question of supporting a Congress government post polls.

Karat felt with the UPA “virtually ceasing to exist”, and there being no chance of the BJP coming to power, the chances of a “secular alternative government” of non-Congress, non-BJP parties were bright.

“All nine parties brought together are working in this regard. Those who say the Third Front is an illusion must realise that there is no such thing as the UPA. All major partners, except the DMK, are fighting the Congress.”

“Even the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is fighting the Congress in states other than in Maharashtra,” he said.

He said while the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has also lost partners, the Third Front has grown and expanded.

Karat said there will be a realignment of forces after the elections, with more “secular parties” joining the third force.

“We are confident that we will emerge as the largest combination,” he said.

On the question of the front’s prime ministerial candidate, Karat said it will be decided by the parties of the coalition to be formed by the common consent of all the constituents. “We see no difficulty in arriving at a decision on the prime minister.”

He said the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which is projecting its leader Mayawati as a candidate for the top job, has also agreed that the issue will be decided after the polls.

Asked if the CPI-M would pit Bhattacharjee as its prime ministerial candidate, Karat said: “I’m not saying anything. We are not putting forward any names, because after the election, we want to play a big role in bringing all the parties together so that a name can be arrived at.”

Karat said his party will seriously consider the issue of joining the government if there were prospects for a non-Congress, non-BJP government.

“It’s a matter we will discuss and decide after the elections. Our party’s position is that the question of participating in the government will be decided based on circumstances after every election. It’s an open question.”

“But if prospects of a non-BJP, non-Congress government are there, then the matter will be seriously considered,” said the Marxist leader, who played a pivotal part in the Left parties’ decision to withdraw support to the UPA government on the India-US civil nuclear deal issue last year.

Among others who filed their nominations were CPI-M’s sitting MP from Bishnupur (SC) constituency Sushmita Bauri and Congress nominee Amrit Hansda in Jhargram (ST) constituency.

Earlier in the day, the Election Commission issued the notification for the first phase of election in 14 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats from the state.

The last date for filing nominations is April 9 and the scrutiny will take place April 11. April 13 is the last date for withdrawal. Polling will be held April 30.

West Bengal will have a three-phase poll. After the first phase, the second phase - May 7 - will cover 17 constituencies, while the remaining 11 seats will see voting May 13.

CHENNAI - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat met All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief J Jayalalithaa at her residence here on Monday.

During the hour-long meet, they discussed issues concerning the seat sharing in the ensuing elections to the Lok Sabha.

Earlier, Karat released the Tamil version of the party’s manifesto.

Speaking to media persons he said that his party is keen on the formation of a non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and non-Congress secular Government at the Centre.

“As far as my party is concerned when we called for the defeat of the Congress that means we have no understanding with the Congress. Last time, we didn’t call for the defeat of the Congress. Last time, we called for the defeat of the BJP and the formation of a secular government. This time, we are calling for the defeat of the Congress and the formation of an alternative secular government and not Congress led secular government,” said Karat.

As for being a part of the government, he said the party would take a decision if the Third Front reaches a position to form the Government.

Further, he clarified that the CPI (M) stand on joining the Central Government after elections.

“Let us first reach the position of being able to form a government. If such a situation arises after the Lok Sabha polls, I think my party will seriously discuss the matter and take a decision. We have decided that every time depending on the circumstances, the party should take a decision whether to join the government or not. We have no principle that we should join the government neither there is a principle that we should join every government,” added Karat.

Incidentally, no party or combination of parties has been ever been able to form a government in India sans the support of either Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Amidst all these trends, the Communists are hoping several fence-sitting parties, who in the past have allied themselves either with the Congress or the BJP, will this time join the Third Front.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Monday accused the successive governments and the mainstream political parties of neglecting disabled citizens.

“Successive governments and mainstream political parties have utterly failed disabled citizens by ignoring and neglecting their issues,” said CPI-M politburo member Brinda Karat, while releasing the party’s pamphlets for women, Dalits, tribals and disabled here.

“The Congress-led government’s slogan of ‘inclusive growth’ rings hollow when seen in relation to the rights, needs and requirements of the disabled or differently abled population in India, even though they constitute at least six percent of the population,” she said.

According to the CPI-M, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s record on providing job opportunities for the disabled had been dismal.

It noted Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had announced a scheme of providing 100,000 jobs per annum to persons with disabilities, with a proposed outlay of Rs.18 billion (Rs.1800 crore) during the 11th Plan in the 2006-07 Budget.

However, Chidambaram himself admitted some time later that “not a single recruitment has been made six months after the scheme was announced,” the CPI-M said.

The CPI-M called for a special employment guarantee scheme to be designed for disabled people in all parts of the country that provides them suitable employment, ensuring at least minimum wages throughout the year.

The Persons With Disabilities (PWD) Act provides three percent reservation in jobs in all government and public sector units for the disabled. The share of the disabled against the total strength in actual terms is barely 0.44 percent as against their estimated population of 5-6 percent, it said.

Hyderabad, March 25 : There is trouble ahead for the four-party opposition combine in Andhra Pradesh as the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Wednesday unilaterally declared it would contest 20 seats in the next month’s assembly elections.

CPI-M, one of the constituents of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led alliance, denied that the seat sharing agreement with TDP was finalised. CPI-M state secretary B.V. Raghavulu told reporters that the agreement was “yet to be reached”.


He also released list of 20 assembly constituencies where the CPI-M would field its candidates. “We have sought 20 seats and hence (are) releasing the list. There may be few changes if the agreement with TDP is finalised,” he said.

The move by the CPI-M has come as a blow to the alliance which is facing an uphill task in seat sharing. It came even as TDP and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) claimed to have finalised an agreement.

TRS, which will be contesting 48 assembly and nine Lok Sabha seats in the Telangana region, Wednesday announced candidates for 15 assembly constituencies. Party leader E. Rajender told reporters that more names would be announced shortly.

The TDP-TRS agreement came after serious differences between the two parties which had threatened to tear apart the alliance. However, the agreement has led to lot of dissidence in TDP camp. As TDP leadership agreed to leave few seats where the party is believed to be strong, its cadres and ticket aspirants have taken to streets.

Two protesters doused themselves with kerosene and tried to immolate themselves Wednesday morning outside the residence of TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu here.

They were protesting the decision of the party to leave Mancherial assembly seat in Adilabad district for the TRS. Angry TDP workers also ransacked the party office in Mancherial.

While the TDP and the TRS have finalised the agreement, it is not yet over between TDP and the two left parties. CPI-M is seeking 20 assembly and two Lok Sabha seats. CPI also wants almost an equal number of seats.

Simultaneous polls to 294-member assembly and 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state are scheduled to be held April 16 and April 23.

NEW DELHI - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Friday opposed the Congress party’s demand for president’s rule in Orissa after allegations of foul play in the trust vote.

‘The politburo of the CPI-M strongly opposes the demand to impose president’s rule in Orissa,’ it said and warned the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre that ‘it should not resort to any such blatant partisan measure.’

Leaders of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday met Orissa Governor
M.C. Bhandare to discuss their complaint that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won the trust vote in the assembly Wednesday through manipulation and foul play.

Accusing the Congress of teaming up with the BJP to demand the Patnaik government’s dismissal, the CPI-M politburo said there was no basis for the governor to recommend president’s rule in the state.

‘With the withdrawal of support by the BJP to the Naveen Patnaik government, the governor had asked the chief minister to prove his majority on the floor of the house. In the assembly, the motion of confidence was passed by a voice vote. There is no basis, therefore, for the governor to recommend president’s rule,’ the CPI-M said.