Hyderabad: Ruling out any changes in the party leadership, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday admitted that policy shortcomings and mistakes in the handling of Singur and Nandigram proved costly to the Left Front in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
"Notwithstanding the big achievements of the Left government, over the last three decades, there were shortcomings and weakness in some of the policies and measures adopted for the welfare of the people, the mistakes with regard to Singur and Nandigram proved costly to the party," he told reporters here.
Speaking after the conclusion of the 3-day meet of CPM Politburo and Central Committee, he said "Election outcomes do not determine leadership changes in CPM."
The meet assessed results of recent Assembly elections in five states with special focus on West Bengal and Kerala, where the party was in power.
He blamed the ganging up of political forces ranging from rightist forces to the Maoists behind the Trinamool Congress, for the Front's performance.
"The people voted for change," he said.
"In Kerala, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) lost narrowly, in our review the Central Committee appreciated the work of the CPM and the LDF in the election campaign. The Central Committee has directed the Kerala unit to ensure various aspects of election results and take steps to further strengthen the party in Kerala," Karat said.
Karat said corrective measures will be taken to strengthen the party but did not elaborate on what they would be.
Despite the adverse circumstances, 41 per cent of voters had voted for the Left Front in West Bengal, Karat said.
"The prolonged rule led to accumulation of negative factors. We are trying to find out what are the reasons that impelled the people to opt for change. We are also noting that two crore people have voted for the Left. It is 41 per cent of the total vote. The poor have stood with the Left," he said.
Significantly, former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya did not attend the crucial meeting, citing health reasons.
"His health does not permit him to move out of Kolkata. He has already told me that he will not be able to attend the meeting in Hyderabad," Karat said.
When pointed out that the Forward Block has sought a leadership change in CPM, he wondered how can one party talk about leadership change in another party.
Highlighting the alleged violence on Left cadres in West Bengal in which 14 workers were killed since election results were announced there, Karat said Trinamool Congress-Congress government has shown no interest in curbing it.
The Central Committee has decided to hold the 20th Congress of the party in the beginning of April, 2012 in Kerala and the exact venue will be decided shortly, the CPM general secretary leader said.
The party Congress was supposed to have been held in April 2011 but it was deferred due to the assembly elections, he said.
Joining the ongoing debate on corruption, the CPM leader said that the party has a "blemishless" record on the malaise.
The party demanded comprehensive anti-corruption measures, including an effective Lok Pal legislation bringing the Prime Minister under its ambit, setting up of a National Judicial Commission to oversee the judiciary, electoral reforms to curb the use of money power and firm measures to break the nexus of big business-ruling politicians and the bureaucracy.
Asked if the LDF would stake claim to form government in Kerala in case of any trouble to the UDF government, he said his party would play the role of an effective Opposition but refused to hazard a guess on what happens to the UDF.
"As of now, they have won the election. They have formed a government. We have made it clear at the outset that we are not in any way interfering with the verdict of the people. It is for them now to run the government, govern and if they have any problems, let us see how they deal with it," Karat said.
"As far as we are concerned, we will play the role of an alert Opposition and we shall oppose any measures or moves which will reverse some of the good things done by the LDF government.
"Secondly, as an Opposition we will stand by the people and take positions according to the interests of the people. As far as what happens in the UDF, let us wait and see what happens, I cannot say," he said.
Replying to a query on the Telangana issue, Karat said it is for the Centre to take a decision on the matter as it had gathered the views of all and the Sri Krishna Committee had already submitted a report.
"It is not good to delay a decision," he said.
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