Poll reverses may affect Communist movement in India: Tripura CPI-M chief

Agartala, May 17 : The electoral reverses suffered by the Left parties in their traditional bastions of West Bengal and Kerala may affect the Communist movement in the whole country, a senior Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader said here Sunday.

"Both at political, organisational and administrative levels, serious corrections are required, otherwise the Left parties' growth and the movement, besides their national importance, would be affected in a considerable manner," said Bijon Dhar, a CPI-M central committee member and head of the party in Tripura.

The 2009 elections saw the Left parties' tally dip to 15 out of 42 in West Bengal and four out of 20 in Kerala, though the party won both seats in Tripura.

In 2004, CPI-M-led fronts had won 35 seats in West Bengal and 19 in Kerala.

Terming the results as a "temporary tragedy", Dhar said: "The electoral setbacks in the two Left bastions would be a great lesson for all of us and the party leadership should chalk out the future course of action keeping these in mind."

"The party units in the two states themselves have to plug these loopholes," Dhar told IANS.

"One should not be come to a conclusion that the Left parties are finished in their fortress. The people will realise who is bad and who is good and people will again support Communists to resolve their basic issues," he said.

The CPI-M politburo will meet in New Delhi Monday to discuss the election results while the central committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed.

The only silver lining for the CPI-M was Tripura where it won both the Lok Sabha seats. The state has been ruled by the Left since 1978 barring a five-year period in 1988-92.

CPI-M candidate Bajuban Reang won the Tripura East parliamentary constituency for the seventh time defeating his Congress rival Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl by a margin of 295,581 votes.

Former Tripura health minister and CPI-M central committee member Khagen Das defeated his Congress rival Sudip Roy Barma in Tripura West Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 248,549 votes.