LF partners want discussion on Basu’s retirement

CALCUTTA, NOV 16: Some constituents of the ruling Left Front in West Bengal, including All India Forward Bloc, today said that the CPI-M ...

CALCUTTA, NOV 16: Some constituents of the ruling Left Front in West Bengal, including All India Forward Bloc, today said that the CPI-M politburo alone could not take a decision regarding Jyoti Basu’s retirement from the post of Chief Minister and demanded that the issue be discussed by the Front.

CPI-M state secretary and the politburo member Anil Biswas had stated yesterday that the issue of Basu’s retirement was on the agenda of the politburo meeting scheduled on November 20 and 21.

Veteran Forward Bloc

leader and the party’s state secretary Ashok Ghose, who raised the issue at the Front meeting, told newsmen, “Basu is not the leader of CPI-M alone, he is the leader of the Left Front as well. How can CPI-M alone take a decision on this, keeping the Front in the dark?”

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The AIFB leader said that in the prevailing political situation, Basu should not step down as the Chief Minister, despite his failing health. He said that the Front chairman Sailen Dasgupta was requested to convey their feelings to the CPI-M politburo.

He demanded that the issue of appointing a Deputy Chief Minister should also be discussed at the Front meeting.

Briefing newsmen on the Front meeting, CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose admitted that some LF partners wanted discussion on Basu’s retirement.

To a question if the issue of two Front constituents — Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Forward Bloc — joining the Front proposed by Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, figured in the LF meeting, Bose said that no one had raised it.

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Virtually daring them to raise the issue at the LF meeting, the CPI-M leader said that after making statements in the press, why did they remain silent.

The Forward Bloc leader, however, ruled out any possibility of joining a front with Trinamool Congress, saying that the party followed Congress policies, which his party opposed.

Bose said that all the LF constituents have been asked to review the Lok Sabha election results and submit their reports, along with comments, by the middle of December.

In the third week of December, Left Front would chalk out programmes after discussing those reports, he said.

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Bose, who visited the cyclone-ravaged areas of Orissa, said that the Front would take a drive to collect funds for the cyclone victims on December 3 and 4. Later, a Left Front team would visit Orissa along with the relief material.

The Left Front Government, he said, had already sent relief worth Rs 7.10 crore for the affected people in Orissa, while Chief Minister Jyoti Basu had sanctioned Rs 50 lakh from his relief fund.