Prasenjit Bose appeals to the CPI(M) to retract support to Pranab Mukherjee
Former convenor of the CPI(M) research cell, Prasenjit Bose had resigned from his party on the issue of support to the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee for the post of president. He has issued an appeal to the CPI(M) politbureau reacting to the Trinamul Congress' extension of support to Mukherjee's candidature that was announced recently. The statement is carried below.
AN APPEAL TO THE CPI (M) POLIT BUREAU
Dear Comrades,
You must have learnt by now that the Trinamul Congress chief has announced her party’s support to Mr. Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential elections today in Kolkata. Given the fact that the Trinamul Congress is a partner of the UPA coalition, this is not altogether unexpected. The stated objective of the support extended to the Congress nominee by the CPI (M), in terms of utilizing the “conflicts and fissures” between the Congress and the Trinamul Congress, has clearly not worked.
Since the meeting of the CPI (M) Central Committee is scheduled only after the Presidential elections, it is for the Polit Bureau to intervene in the situation. The discredited neoliberal Congress led government at the Centre now stands to gain by getting both the CPI (M) and the Trinamul Congress to support its Presidential nominee. This makes the position adopted by the CPI (M) so far, quite untenable.
This is to appeal to the CPI (M) Polit Bureau to reverse its decision to extend support to Mr. Mukherjee on an immediate basis and unite with other Left Parties to abstain in the Presidential elections.
Prasenjit Bose
Ex-Member of CPI (M)
17th July 2012, 6.00 p.m.
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Comments
An Appeal to Com Bose
Dear Com Bose,
As a supporter of the party from which you have resigned, and a supporter of the broader Left movement in this country and beyond, I must congratulate you for your stand. I hope that the party leadership will think over its right-wing deviations and correct itself. However, my appeal to you is to declare a through political and ideological attack on the redundant leadership exposing them to the millions of members and supporters. You must elaborate your take on various issues including 'democratic centralism' and Stalinism. I must clarify here that when we talk about Stalin, it is all about his great role as a leader as well as his failures and wrong policies. But 'Stalinism' refers to a tendency that forces its decisions and goes all out against the dissidents, including getting them eliminated.
You must assemble like-minded comrades and friends and discuss the future plans. You should also talk to other Left parties and groups. This situation must mark a new beginning, and for that you must act now. You should lead the young comrades. When I say this, it does not mean to follow one person, but the new ideas and hopes. Form an ad-hoc group. This opportunity should not go in vein. And, if you return to the party without having them changed in real terms, all this will get reduced as a farce.
I hope that you will consider this appeal and start trying to mobilize comrades and friends across the country.
With revolutionary hopes,
A Comrade (was member of the party for 20 years, was dropped because of not being in the agreement of my LC's take on some local issues, but continued as a member of a mass organization. Never approached again for taking membership)
Prasenjit Bose appeals to the CPI(M) to retract support to Prana
dear comrade.
whatever letter were written by mr prasenjit. i am quite agree. because i have been reading and watching cpim centre and state policy is not clear as to what they claim. they claim themself they are secular and they want bring all secular party at center to keep BJP at bay. but CPIM always suport communal and corrupt party like RJD and SP. It shows there is some hidden relationship between congress and cpim polit beauro. it is a high time cpim should amend its mistake and keep itself from presidential drama.
the understanding the BJP,
the understanding the BJP, RJD and SP are communal is erroneous.
Presidential Election
It is rather ridiculous and childish decision on the part of the large element in the Left political blocks to extend support Congress candidate in the presidential election. The motto is to create confrontation between Congress and TMC and take advantage of it for squeezing power in future. This seems to be just like that to create quarrel between two brothers and hence to grab widow's property. The views of top leaders of the Party is undoubtedly untenable as the tactical line must be based on ideological rubric. Tactical line can never be taken on whimsical intention for immediate benefit. The decision taken by TMC is quite natural as it was born from the womb of Congress Party. How it would be believable that there is basic contradiction in between these two parties as both these parties are the followers of dictat of foreign imperialist forces. Hence the largest party has got solid slaps on their face given by TMC. It would be wise to withdraw support from congress candidate. It is rather shocking and painful to see that a large section of party rank and file are showing soft corner to the congress party more precisely to Gandhi Family since inception of the building up the Party like undivided communist party. It is also a reality that in West Bengal, majority of the Party leaders and their sycophants are pro-congress minded though they are projecting themselves as a true communist. This is rather hypocracy and utter dubiousness as also treachery to the basic principles of working class politics. Hence Prasenjit Bose rightly appealed to the Party Polit Bureau to withdraw support from congress candidate.
Prosenjit's third letter
We hear that reacting to Prosenjt's third letter[ of appeal] Sitaram Yechuri said that Mamata is not reliable and she might again call back her support. He added emphatically that only CPM is the most reliable party and that their support to Pranab is the most trustworthy and reliable! So much for their opposition to Congress policies and all great stories of using the fissures between Congress and TMC to create living space for themselves! Prosenjit still cannot believe that supporting Pranab was not a mistake but the result of a long flowing logical process that will go on even much further in burgeoning proportions!
Why is Prasenjit still
Why is Prasenjit still bothered with the CPIM? Will he come back to the CPIM if the latter decides to abstain on the Presidential election? I am a district committee CPIM leader from Jangipur and comrades here are planning to revolt against the Party's supporting of Pranab Mukherjee following Prasenjit's brave revolt. Prasenjit should clarify his future plans, otherwise we might be caught on the wrong side... Comrade, I have inside information that the party may withdraw support to Pranab at the last moment...in this situation please clarify
No way
Comrades, he has gone far beyond the point of return. Rest assured.
DCMs should have minds of
DCMs should have minds of their own.
feeling sad about the
feeling sad about the political level of your "jangipur district committee"...the committee members should have minds of their own.
Thought it had rained in
Thought it had rained in Delhi by now!
Easy
This should be easy: "Because of considerable dissent within the party, it has been decided to abstain from voting in the presidential elections. The party views the very office of the president as a waste on the resources of the country and the presidential elections as just another farcical political game thrust upon us by the bourgeois political classes. It may be noted that through this game some electoral points can be scored as and when required. "
Being seen on the side of Mamata
The gen sec said the party did not want to be seen as siding with Mamata. The question: Does he mind being seen as siding with the Congress and its Finance Minister who is aggressively going ahead with neoliberalism. Get your priorities right boss!
hats off to com. prasenjit!
hats off to com. prasenjit!
what is happening to the wisdom and common sense of the party leadership? please rectify the decision now at least. no point in continuing with a wrong decision.
sad to see a decision of the
sad to see a decision of the cpm proved incorrect so soon. another addition to the gathering list of mistakes.
this is what happens when we
this is what happens when we take opportunist rather than principled positions.
AB Bardhan is quite prophetic...
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-two-thousand-fourteen...
"You batted for Pranab Mukherjee for President in 2007 but this time he has divided the Left and your party has decided to abstain in the poll. The CPM has, however, decided to vote for him, probably mindful of the Bengali sentiment that prevails in West Bengal?
Pranab Mukherjeeis not like BC Roy or Jyoti Basu (former chief ministers of West Bengal), who did a lot for Bengal, even if you talk about the Bengal angle. You are saying that just because he happens to be from Bengal, Bengal should vote for him, like 'amra Bangali'. I am a Bengali and I am not enthusiastic about Pranab Mukherjee.
But the Left wanted him as President in 2007?
In 2007, it was a name that came out suddenly from Sitaram Yechury (CPM leader). It was shot down immediately by Madam Gandhi (Sonia Gandhi). Who will look after the government? she had asked.
He has been looking after the government since then. Later, when I had told Pranab what had transpired at the meeting -- there were four of us from the Left parties along with Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi at the meeting -- and what Sonia Gandhi had said about him running the government, even though the prime minister was present, he had remarked, "she didn't think of that when naming the PM".
This time, Pranab Mukherjee has divided the Left also right down the middle?
We have all agreed that (despite differences) the Left Front continues. Even now a meeting is going on to fix a date for the agitation on food security. We are planning a joint struggle.
Prakash Karat had said that the CPM's decision to vote for Pranab Mukherjee will divide the Congress and the Trinamool, and that it would not be proper if both the CPM and the Trinamool abstain. What do you think Mamata will do?
Mamata has said she will announce her decision three days before polling. They have now said -- it has been attributed to Trinamool sources -- they will not abstain. She cannot vote for Sangma and seen to be standing with the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party).
I am sure Pranab Mukherjee will meet her, and the PM will give her assurances that they will do their best for West Bengal.
What happens to the CPM's stand if Mamata decides to vote for Pranab?
That is the question. You may get a third letter from (expelled CPM leader) Prasenjit Bose!"
so the 2007 mystery is
so the 2007 mystery is solved. it was com. sitaram who was peddling the name of pranab mukherjee even then.
What happened to not wanting to line up with mamata?
'Abstention in this case would mean lining up with Mamata Banerjee and the TMC in West Bengal' - so Prakash Karat had said.
Well, now Mamata is supporting Pranab, and has well and truly put the CPIm's nose out of joint. Will the CPIM now 'line up with TMC' and continue to support Pranab? Or will it withdraw support for Pranab simply on the grounds that Mamata has extended support?! In either case, CPIM would prove that it has no serious and independent political agenda - and that Mamata can lead it a dance as and when she wishes! What a ridiculous fate for the country's 'largest left party' to be reduced to!
For us well wishers of the Left, it seems, we must either remain completely frustrated and hopeless. Or we must seek hope beyond the confines of the CPIM - in other models of Left movement.
presidential drama
Act III, Final scene --
Pranab (Congress) has the last laugh, as Mamata chuckles in the wings!!
(Curtain falls)
how prophetic!
"...the decision by the CPI (M) Polit Bureau to support the Congress nominee is based upon elusive and unprincipled considerations of utilizing “the fissures within ruling alliance between the bourgeois parties”. At a time when the CPI (M) and the Left is politically-electorally weak, it is more vulnerable to be used by bourgeois parties rather than being successful in using the fissures between them. While it is far from clear whether the alliance between the Congress and the TMC will break in the near future, Left unity has already become a casualty, demoralizing the rank and file of the Left." see: http://pragoti.in/node/4711
Innocent Pranab
The strange explanation given by party leaders and 'intellectuals' for the party's decision to support Pranab's candidature is that he is only an individual implementing his government's neoliberal policies and that he cannot be held responsible for these policies. One 'intellectual' on a TV show went to the extent of saying that Pranab's hands are tied (that is, he is helpless in implementing neoliberalism). If you stretch this logic, even Narendra Modi is a helpless individual who only implements his party's Hindutva ideology ( a reasoning implicit in the capitalist class' support to Modi.) When the DMK's Karunanidhi surprised everyone by supporting the BJP-led NDA, his reasoning was that Vajpayee was the right person in the wrong party. As skewed as the cpi(m)'s logic!
Budha
Budha should resign!!!
com. buddhadeb should intervene
com. buddhadeb should intervene in the situation and reverse the decision. there is still time till tomorrow..
Self goal!
And I am a party member so with no ill-will towards the party I say two words: Self Goal! That's what happens when revisionism takes over!
agree comrade; if you were in
agree comrade; if you were in party, you could make this point directly.
since you are in the party
since you are in the party comrade, why don't you raise this within party forums? please get the party to reverse its decision and abstain on presidential elections. there is still time till tomorrow....
how?
another note to the polit bureau like the many that are gathering dust?
If notes to the Polit Bureau
If notes to the Polit Bureau from within the CPIM did not work, how can appeals from outside work? This is absolutely baffling. Prasenjit needs to grow up. He resigned from CPIM but his heart still lies with the party. Come on boy, get down on the ground and build some progressive alternatives instead of wasting time with the revisionist CPIM. The hopes of a revolutionery alternative sparked by Prasenjit's resignation is fast dying down with such mundane, bureaucratic actions. Appealing to the Polit Bureau of a revisionist party is nothing short of liquidating oneself!
Com. PRASENJIT's appeal to
Com. PRASENJIT's appeal to the party leadership is a hope against hope on behalf of all of us who still want to believe in the CPM. Please change the decision for our sake.
this post seems to be by
this post seems to be by someone who is still in denial. on a day that prasenjit stands vindicated, he/she is talking about his revolutionary alternative dying down in a patronizing manner. Baffling indeed!
the revolutionary spark is considerably strengthened comrade....at least today do some introspection rather than throwing more challenges at prasenjit! tomorrow is another day...
Prasenjit has grown up
Prasenjit has grown up immensely by being vindicated with the latest political development. and his heart seems to be on the Left, like many of us in the CPI (M). It is the Party leadership which has broken our hearts. Time will tell whether it is Prasenjit who is liquidated or the revisionists within the CPI (M) against whom he has rebelled. Lal salaam Comrade Prasenjit. We are with you in your fight...
You did not answer my
You did not answer my question. If notes within the party does the work in CPIM, how does appeals from outside work?
if nothing works with the CPI
if nothing works with the CPI (M) from inside or outside, then the CPI (M) itself will stop working soon. the sooner you realize the better!
please write a clear question
please write a clear question - do you mean notes within the party work or do not work. in any case, inside or outside, if the cpm believes in reasoning and scientific thinking, it should rethink its erroneous stand especially since there is still time. the party should rise above whether it would agree or disagree with com. prasenjit. it should just do the logically right thing - abstain in presidential elections.
Sorry for the typo...but my
Sorry for the typo...but my question was very clear in my earlier post. If notes within CPIM does not work, how are appeals from outside supposed to work? Hope you will answer the question now..
Well, appeals from outside
Well, appeals from outside can serve to show how irredeemable the CPIM is, and how impervious to appeals from its cadre. Inner party notes would not have the same impact. At least all this could bring home the need for Left cadres to make a break and forge an alternative
To be in the Left movement,
To be in the Left movement, beside several other things, one need to have patience also. On one single issue or even on few such issues, if any individual's personal view or views become minority, it is not pragmatic for a revolutionary mind to be frustrated and withdraw himself/herself from the entire process of inner organisational struggle. It is correct that, inner party/organisational struggle is a long drawn process and a tire-some job. Genuine ideological conviction, boldness and a mind which revolts to surrender before any kind of opportunism is required in inner organisational struggle and at the same time the said struggle should be consistent. The fight in inner organisational struggle should not be against issues only, but the said fight should be launched against the source from which the negative views emerge issue to issue.
Those who think this is the high time to stage an alternative platform for left movement as CPIM has become revisionist, my earnest appeal to all of them to study and review the decisions of CPIM which it has taken through out the last few years, be it in 1996 or in 2008 in particular, to mention a few. Even after that if one feels in the same way, it will be unfortunate to the left movement. One should be judged by it's entire activity and not by any stray and isolated incident, like this instant decision, which may be termed by few/many, as incorrect.
A pragmatic and revolutionary mind do not make any haste and should wait before making the ultimate judgement to witness the future movements to come.
what happens when views that
what happens when views that are not part of formal debates within party forums sneak into party decisions?
the tactics of making a recovery in West Bengal based on driving a wedge between the Congress and the TMC has not been part of formal discussions in the all india party congress held as recently as in april 2012. this view has only been articulated in the bourgeois press. yet it has become the basis for driving our party's support to pranab mukherjee. no one would mind inner party struggle, if it were happening in an open and transparent manner, with clear division of majority and minority views. however, irrespective of formal discussions, if other considerations increasingly hold sway in top party forums, then what kind of inner-party struggle is being invoked?
please hold transparent two-or-more line debates within the party. then comrades within the party can be made aware that some inner party struggle is indeed going on in which they can align themselves politically/ideologically. otherwise, is it just shadow boxing, with most comrades not knowing what to debate, and where.
Then maybe comrades like prasenjit may not end up debating the decision of the party once it is taken.
Why Bose Still wants the CPI(M) Tag
The introduction to Prasenjit's appeal to the CPI(M) says that he is the former convenor of the research cell of the Party.
Prasenjit also uses the term ex-member of the CPI(M) in his note.
Why does he still want to use the CPI(M) tag when he has abandoned the ship?
those in a ship should ensure
those in a ship should ensure that it does not develop leakages and fellow travelers are convinced that its faults would be mended before it is too late. yes, then no one would abandon ship. but if it is expected from travelers that they remain mute spectators to the ship's handlers inflicting more damage on the ship instead of plugging its holes....why blame the travelers? mend the ship and its course, no one would abandon it...everyone likes to travel in the safety of a large ship rather than take a plunge into the sea....please take concrete steps to dispel the sinking feeling that scores of comrades are developing in the rank and file of the party...
Why Bose Still wants the CPI(M) Tag
But that does not answer the Question
WHY BOSE STILL WANTS TO USE THE CPI(M) TAG?
Attempts to break party morale won't work
Why are you firends so interested on what is happening in cpim and what it should do ? Let the millions within the party decide it. Being an insider for over 20 yrs we can diffrentiate a vice of concern from a voice of hungry fox. Your effort to accelerate the process of degeneration of cpim won't work, nor would it gain a bit in addressing the objective of disheartening the party rank by any means as it is real life class struggles and the engagement of party to it which will work decisively. Prasenjit Bose was not expelled just because of a different view from offcial party stand but because of his calculated decision of sharing his resignation letter outside party platform. If any one thinks that cpim is a debate club or an NGO, he is not aware of the genesis of the party and would only take joy in metaphysical dreamland. Try as much as you can, but all such foolish attempts of breaking the party morale will go in vain in the long run.
the cpim is not a secret
the cpim is not a secret society. it is the largest left force in the country and is a subject of free scrutiny and comment by anybody.
if the cpm makes political mistakes it will damage the morale of its party cadre. if it does correct politics, its morale can remain intact.
don't get angry and frustrated by the party's political mistakes. try to rectify them.