The group, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and state secretary Biman Bose, feels the "timing of the withdrawal" in July 2008 was "wrong". The group will seek a review of this decision in the forthcoming extended Central Committee meeting of the party in Vijayawada in August and also question other decisions of the party that are alleged to have led to the debacle in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday hinted that a meeting of opposition leaders may take place in Patna after the crucial Karnataka assembly polls were over as many would be busy electioneering there.
Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who has always played a key role in defusing tensions with the Left, were also present at the crucial meeting.
The Left and SP, along with TDP, have held consultations on the issue.
Noting that the WikiLeaks cables were a 'sad and revealing' commentary of where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress have landed the country in, the CPI-M has said Americans were willing to do everything to win the trust vote during the UPA government's regime so that the nuclear deal could go through.CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said the cables show that the Americans are keen observers of the high level of corruption that exists in India's politics.
BJP state president V Muraleedharan said that the CPM leadership had run out of ideas and was trying to suppress its political opponents by physically intimidating them. Arun Lakshman reports
Participating in the resumed discussion on the General Budget in the Rajya Sabha, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat said the government is linking food inflation to higher purchasing power among the poor resulting from employment programmes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who has so far maintained silence about his expulsion from the Communist Party of India Marxist, is planning to write a letter to party General Secretary Prakash Karat, according to sources.
'I found that the only path to fight inequality was the path of revolutionary politics,' says CPI-M Politburo member Brinda Karat.
CPI-M veteran Pinarayi Vijayan, who led the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to an unprecedented consecutive victory in the April 6 assembly polls, on Thursday took oath as chief minister of Kerala for the second time along with 20 ministers.
A day after Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh commented on the issue of 'Sangh terror', Communist Party of India - Marixist leader Sitaram Yechury on Friday cited ideologies propounded by freedom fighters V Savarkar and B S Moonje to insist that there was nothing new in the 'violent strain' of Hindutva.
The Modi government and political parties on Monday roundly criticised Pakistan for the beheading of two Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Communist Party of India - Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday to discuss the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement. Mukherjee asked the Left Front to allow the United Progressive Alliance government to go ahead with the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
CPI(M) ups ante against UPA; decides to form joint platform
Opposition leaders and activists hit out at the Centre after the death of Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy on Monday, saying it should be held accountable for the "ruthless" and "inhuman treatment" meted out to the 84-year-old who was suffering from multiple ailments and awaiting bail on medical grounds.
In a bid to enter the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal, Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo members Sitaram Yechuri and Brinda Karat on Monday filed their nominations for the upcoming election to the Upper House.
Leaders from other state units are coming to VS's aid ahead of the party's crucial Central Committee meeting even as some ministers of his Cabinet have refused to work with him.
Shiv Sena described Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury as the "captain of a sinking ship".
However, even 10 days after Modi took the nation by surprise by announcing demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, his rivals continued to aggressively target him
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has warned the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre that it will face countrywide protests if it hikes petrol and diesel prices.
'The Congress's arrogance and unrealistic claims have weakened the anti-BJP movement at the national level.'
Opposition presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha on Monday filed his nomination papers for the July 18 election, with a host of leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav and Farooq Abdullah accompanying him.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
With the all-party meetings called by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla producing no breakthrough to end the deadlock in Parliament, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi accused opposition parties of repeatedly 'insulting' Dhankhar.
Last week, Basu had been quoted as saying, "We want capital, both foreign and domestic. After all, we are working in a capitalist system. Socialism is not possible now." Maintaining that Basu's remarks were on the nature of capitalist development in West Bengal and the role of the Left Front government, party general secretary Prakash Karat said, "On the basis of these reports, some political leaders have also come out with equally confused and misplaced reactions."
A voter turnout of over 40 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Monday in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories amid incidents of violence in Andhra Pradesh and reports of poll boycott in some villages of Uttar Pradesh.
'Only when we show magnanimity and grace, give them the required respect and space, will they show the willingness to listen to us wholeheartedly,' says\nNCP leader Devi Prasad Tripathi.
Alleging there was a "conspiracy by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to kill Mamata Banerjee after her Lalgarh rally, Trinamool Congress on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram seeking their intervention in the matter.
The Communist Party of India - Marxist, which is under all-round attack over the unabated violence in Nandigram, on Monday accused the Trinamool Congress of taking the help of Maoists to create trouble in the area and insisted that normalcy will be restored there soon. Party General Secretary Prakash Karat said that the Trinamool Congress was indulging in certain activities as it had failed to win the confidence of people in a democratic manner.
The CPM on Monday decided to explore avenues to resolve its differences with the UPA government about the Indo-US nuclear agreement. the party stopped short of saying it would withdraw support if the govt goes ahead & operationalises the pact.
The Union Human Resources Development minister had said that the RSS was involved in Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo meeting, which began in Kolkata on Tuesday, did not discuss party partriach Jyoti Basu's desire to quit from the highest decision-making forum due to ill-health and age.
On March 30, West Bengal will elect five new members to Rajya Sabha. The ruling Trinamool Congress with its 185 members of Legislative Assembly in the state legislative assembly is in a position to elect three members to Rajya Sabha with ease.
UPA-Left coordination committee meeting on Feb 13
Left parties are pre-poll allies of the Congress, which is leading the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.
The general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Prakash Karat raised alarm over upsurge of 'Hindu fundamentalists' in the country as it was aimed at triggering communal polarization in the country and posed a grave threat to national unity.
The Manmohan Singh government has refused to heed to public opinion on the Iran issue and the left parties have decided to demand a debate in the house ahead of the March six International Atomic Energy Agency Board meeting, said Karat.
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandh on Thursday asked the people of West Bengal to end the 34-year-old 'misrule' of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and elect a government of the aam admi that would bring development and prosperity to the state.
'Wait for 2019, there will be no space for the BJP in UP.'
Karat has said the EC should not have admitted the complaint.