Time to introspect: Somnath Chatterjee

20 May 2009, 0457 hrs IST, TNN

KOLKATA: Though senior Left leader Somnath Chatterjee didn't blame any leader for the Left's electoral debacle, he said that it was time for sincere introspection. "There must be some reasons for the poor showing. These have to be identified and corrective measures taken," Chatterjee said, speaking on TV on Tuesday.  Chatterjee hit out at the CPM leadership on the nuclear deal, which led to his ouster from the party. "How did the party benefit from withdrawing support to the UPA government? They couldn't pull down the government. If elections had happened then would the party have gained? I am clear to my conscience that I did the right thing," said Chatterjee.  In the past a Basu loyalist, Chatterjee had crossed swords with CPM's central leadership when the CPM patriarch was denied the opportunity to become the Prime Minister in 1996. "It was a monumental error. Joining the government then would have been the correct decision. Most of the leaders from Bengal were against me at that time. I was in a hopeless minority and the party didn't agree," he said.  Reflecting on the party's poor performance in West Bengal, Chatterjee said errors made by the party had led to this. "At some places, the party has moved away from the people. Some workers may harbour feelings that since we have been in power for so long no one can oppose us. This is a punishment for such thoughts. I believe the state leaders will identify the reasons, take corrective measures and win back supporters," Chatterjee said.  "The party has weakened wherever they have moved away from the people," he said.

I wanted to die as an ordinary member of CPI(M): Somnath

Marcus Dam

KOLKATA: “I’m not an enemy of the party, that I can assure you…If my expulsion has helped the party to become stronger, I’d be happy; though I’m saddest that I wanted to die as an ordinary member of the CPI(M) and that will not happen,” Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee told The Hindu here on Wednesday.

“I came all the way from Delhi only to vote for the party,” Mr. Chatterjee, who voted in the Kolkata Dakshin constituency earlier on Wednesday, said. He said he had declined “a plum offer.” He chose not to elaborate on what that was.

Though “apprehensive” that the number of seats the Left parties win could be fewer this time, Mr. Chatterjee, who was expelled from the party in July 2008, said, “It will continue to remain important in the national scenario.”

“But I’ve a few doubts on how the party is proceeding…I could never imagine that the Left parties will be so keen to form an alliance with leaders like Jayalalithaa or Mayawati who do not even have the pretension of being progressive or Left,” Mr. Chatterjee said.

He wondered “on what basis” such an alliance was being considered, one “without any programmatic understanding and with only a negative aspect.” “Today, you’re making the Left irrelevant in India,” Mr. Chatterjee argued. “I hope it remains relevant.”

The Left is “now fighting a defensive battle, not an offensive one,” Mr. Chatterjee observed. “Today, it’s a mess in Kerala, in West Bengal too. I wish sincerely that the party had become stronger with my expulsion,” he added.

“In almost 10 months [since his expulsion] I’ve not spoken a word against the party and have accepted its decision without any questions. I never wanted to embarrass the party,” he said.“I must have made a mistake obviously so far as the party is concerned, and I feel extremely sad,” Mr. Chatterjee said, referring to his expulsion. “But I’ve not been informed of the real reasons…”

“I’ve been characterised as a betrayer. I did not want any certificate from the party but if somebody takes away my pride — my only possession — I feel very upset, very sad… I became a member of the party in early 1973 and my membership had been the proudest possession of my life,” he added.

On whether he would respond to any move that the CPI(M) leadership might make to re-induct him into it, Mr. Chatterjee said: “I will not respond. There should be a proper change of heart, not just an expression. I am not an enemy of the party, that I can assure you.”

The Hindu, 13th May,2009