In its essence, the political line was not very different from the draft political resolution backed by the majority section led by former general secretary Prakash Karat, but it was sufficiently vague to give some manoeuvring room to the beleaguered Mr. Yechury. The compromise involved replacing the phrase “without having an understanding or electoral alliance with the Congress party” with “without having a political alliance with the Congress party”. If fascism were the only concern for the West Bengal unit, an alliance with the Trinamool Congress should have been just as viable. True, the current political line does not prohibit the CPI(M) from having seat adjustments or a post-poll understanding with the Congress. But not even an imaginative reading of the resolution can allow for the type of alliance the two parties had in West Bengal in 2016.

Source: The Hindu April 23, 2018 18:33 UTC