'No Alliance With Ajit Panja'

The ruling Left Front in West Bengal will not co-operate in any way with the Ajit Panja faction of the Trinamul Congress in case a split takes place against the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. In an exclusive interview to Outlookindia.com, CPI(M) state secretary Anil Biswas said that in an unprincipled party like the TMC such developments were more of a rule than an exception.

Explaining the LF stand, Biswas said  "Mr Panja and the peopleloyal to him are in favour of joining the BJP-led NDA government, which is themain enemy of the people. The LF"s struggle too is against the BJP and theNDA."

He also felt that the Panja-led group lacked grassroot support in the state."Splits and factionalism are bound to afflict parties such as the TMC",he added. It was basically a non-political outfit which continued to functionerratically even after its defeat. "I see no change in its style offunctioning nor in the responses of its leaders to current developments."

These remarks contradict the frequent claim made by Mamata and her followerswithin the TMC, namely that the Panja-led group of dissidents enjoyed the tacitsupport of the CPI(M) and the state BJP. The TMC/Congress alliance instead ofconsolidating the non-Left Opposition had only caused much harm, especially indamaging a traditional party like the Congress and its image, Biswas said. Ontheir part, neither the LF nor the CPI(M) had any reason to change theirassessment of the Congress.

"Our stand on the Congress remains the same as announced during our lastparty congress (at Thiruvanantapuram)". The party line then was that thecommunal threat represented by the BJP presented a major danger to India's unityand integrity . In addition, the economic policy of a sellout to foreigninterests as pursued by the NDA had further exposed its anti-people character.The LF would try to rally all democratic secular forces against the NDA and theBJP. It remained to be seen whether the Congress was willing to join thisinitiative, but in any case, in areas where the Left had no strength, it wouldsupport the Congress as against the BJP all over the country."

The Thiruvanantapuram line was more or less in opposition to the Left line of1989, when the Congress was targeted as the main enemy of the people in the wakeof the Bofors scandal. Biswas' comments also mean that the Left has not hardenedits position against the Congress even after its alliance with the TMC in Bengalthis year. "However, it remains to be seen just who remains where in caseof a fresh alignment within the non-Left camp," he added.

Referring to the recent CPI observation that despite the massive Left victorythere was not much public jubilation in Bengal, Biswas said "We did notorganise any celebrations, instead we concentrated on the job in hand from dayone." He felt the party line of patience towards the challenge ofdissidents as posed by Subhas Chakravarty, Samir Putatunda and SaifuddinChoudhury, had paid off. "No one claiming to be a Leftist would find iteasy to go against the established Left in political terms, Biswas said.

 "Prior to the elections we were under enormous pressure to takedrastic action against the dissidents, but events proved us correct. We do notthink imposing inner party discipline was ever a problem, as 90% of our membersare disciplined.

 Biswas refused to comment on the recent arrest of 16 anti-socials fromSalt Lake and their alleged familiarity with Chakravarty, still a Minister inBengal. "Such matters were for the police to sort out," he said.However, the two-day state committee meeting beginning today was certain todiscuss the matter at some length, say observers.