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Infighting mars CPI(M) conferences  
by Gautam Ghosh

     Kolkata: The on-going organisational conferences of the CPI(M), which will culminate in the party's state conference in February, have been marred by unprecedented infighting and at times by physical violence. Mud-slinging between rival leaders on trivial issues, witnessed by CPI(M) members at the local and zonal conferences in different districts, is a sad commentary on the party which has been in power for the past two and a half decades. This unfortunate state of affairs is being regarded in the left political circles as a direct fallout of the intimate relationship between antisocials and a section of CPI(M) leaders. Group rivalry has, in fact, overshadowed larger economic and political issues, to the chagrin of party cadres who expected a meaningful discussion at the conferences.

      Reports of physical violence at conferences held in Hooghly, West Midnapore and Cooch Behar have reached the state CPI(M) headquarters here. While a CPI(M) member was shot at by rival party activists in Cooch Behar, a few others were injured in an open clash at Danton in West Midnapore. In Kolkata some close associates of notorious criminal Dulal Banerjee, who is now serving life term in connection with twin murders in Dum Dum, have been elected to the Chitpore local committee with the direct backing of building promoters.

     The CPI(M) appears vertically split in districts like North and South 24 Parganas, West Midnapore and Hooghly with party members, owing allegiance to rival leaders, are engaged in an open fight to capture the organisation. In North 24 Parganas, for instance, a battle royal is being fought between the loyalists of transport minister Subhas Chakraborty and party MP from Dum Dum Amitava Nandi. In South 24 Parganas a similar tiff can be detected between Kanti Ganguly, minister for Sundarban development, and Abdur Rezzak Mollah, minister for land reforms. Followers of health minister Surya Kanta Mishra and district party secretary Dipak Sarkar are at loggerheads in West Midnapore. Rupchand Pal and Anil Basu, CPI(M) MPs in Hooghly, appear to be engaged in settling scores with each other and protect their respective loyalists.

     All this has prevented the local and zonal conferences from holding in-depth discussions on some of the contenteous issues plaguing the party since the last Lok Sabha polls. For example, the party is yet to provide a plausible explanation to its workers at the grassroots level about its decision to support the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre despite the latter's visible indifference to some of the burning problems of the people. A section of CPI(M) workers has questioned the party's political wisdom in making a public commitment to support the UPA government for its full five-year term despite its virtual refusal to accept the party's request to bring down the prices of petroleum products, hike the PF interest and keep the FDI in the vital sectors under a leash.

     In fact, the CPI(M)'s association with the Congress is fast threatening to become a controversial issue within and outside the party. CITU, the CPI(M)'s labour wing, is particularly worried about the long-term economic and political fallout of the party's decision to offer unconditional support to the Congress- led government at the Centre. The CITU is in favour of starting a militant movement against the Centre immediately, but has so far been prevented from doing so by moderates like former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu and CPI(M) general secretary H.S. Surjeet who are anxious to keep the BJP at bay and prevent its comeback. State CPI(M) leaders, who are yet to find suitable replies to the party cadres' queries on these issues, expect some definite guidelines from the central leadership at the next party congress to be held in April.

Russian Defence Minister meets Pranab Mukherjee (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov on Wednesday met his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi. Ivanov is on a five-day visit to India, which is aimed at widening the scope of defence cooperation between the two countries. The visit comes ahead of the three-day visit to New Delhi by President Vladimir Putin beginning December 2. Ivanov was accorded a guard of honour on Wednesday. The visits assume signficance as senior defence officials of the two countries are already in New Delhi holding talks on supply of major weapon systems. The two countries are locked over a dispute over pricing for upgradation of the maritime reconnaissance aircraft Tu- 142 and MiG 29K for the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. Early this year, India finalised the purchase of Gorshkov in a 1.5 billion dollar deal giving Asia's only carrier-equipped navy dramatically stronger firepower and bringing nuclear rival China within range. India is the only country in the region with a carrier, an issue of concern among some of the country's smaller neighbours. Its main rivals, Pakistan and China, both of whom have fought wars with India, also do not have carriers. India and the erstwhile USSR were close allies during the Cold War prompted mainly by United States allegience toward India's neighbour and arch rival Pakistan, who are in an explosive dispute over the Himalayan province of Kashmir.

Nepal King opens second World Buddhist summit (Go To Top)

     Kathmandu: The Second World Buddhist Summit was opened by Nepal's monarch, King Gyanendra in Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, on Wednesday. Over 500 delegates from over 20 countries, including India are taking part in the summit. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh is leading the Indian delegation at the summit. The king and his wife also visited the Maya Devi temple in the Sacred Garden area of Lumbini and prayed there. Lumbini is expected to be declared the World City of Peace during the summit, which has been organised with the aim of showcasing Nepal as a safe and religious country.

Dixit, Aziz may meet in Amritsar: Pak paper (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: India's National Security Adviser J N Dixit and his Pakistani counterpart Tariq Aziz may meet in Amritsar later this week to discuss the latest developments in bilateral ties, a Pakistani newspaper has said. The Dawn quoted sources as saying that the meeting which will take place ahead of the next round of Indo-Pakistan composite dialogue in December. The nuclear as well as conventional CBMs and the Indian proposal of starting a Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service will be on the agenda of the upcoming Dixit-Aziz meeting, the sources said. It is learnt that some agreement may be reached on the travel document issue that is seen as a roadblock in establishing the Kashmir bus link. Dixit and Aziz are also likely to take up the issue of the controversial Baglihar hydro-electric dam ahead of the final round of crucial talks on it next week.

Indo-Pak talks put off to Dec 27, 28 (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: The two-day Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan, scheduled to take place here on December 23-24 has been postponed to December 27-28, an official announcement said today. The rescheduling of the dates was done at the request of the Indian government, a Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement here said. Besides reviewing the progress in the talks on various issues, the Foreign Secretaries would discuss the Peace and Security, CBMs and Jammu and Kashmir issue. They would also fix schedule for officials-level talks on issues like Siachen, Wullar Barrage, Sir Creek, Terrorism and Drug Trafficking, Economic and Commercial Cooperation and Promotion of Friendly Exchanges on various fields. Meanwhile, Railway officials of the two countries are meeting here on Thursday to discuss resumption of the Kokharapar-Munabao rail link.

India among fastest growing economies: Sonia Gandhi (Go To Top)

     Port Luis (Mauritius): Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi today said that India was amongst the world's fastest growing economies. She said while addressing a gathering at the inauguration of a science centre dedicated to her late husband and former premier Rajiv Gandhi. "I recall that in the early sixties, a dark future of famine, deprivation and even balkanziation was being predicted for India, but today, she stands tall, self-sufficient in foodgrain, a major agri-exporter and among the fastest growing economies in the world," Gandhi said. Gandhi was flanked by Mauritian Prime Minister Paul Raymond Berenger and other dignitaries as she unveiled the plaque of the state-of-the-art facility set up with major assistance from the Indian government in terms of technical expertise and training of staff, in Port Luis.