Perhaps sensing mid-term polls, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has reinstated Kerala Chief Minister V S Achutanandhan and the party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the politburo
The government had earlier this week briefed top BJP leadership on the same foreign policy issues.
Pledging to fight American imperialism, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat and Communist Part of India national secretary D Raja flagged off a protest jatha from Chennai to Vishakapattanam.
These are interesting times in New Delhi.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday night said the government was confident of addressing the Left concerns on issues of national interest, including the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
To a question on continuing support to the government, Karat said he has just talked to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and it depends on what they decide.
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.
Earlier this month, a fresh round of fratricidal firings started after an interview was carried by the party-controlled TV channel 'Kairali' with a businessman, said to be close to Vijayan, who Achuthanandan had called "a hated person."
Some of the points regarding the agreement were discussed during the meeting, Baru said, adding Karat stated that he would put it to the party's Politburo which will meet over the weekend.
While Prakash Karat was re-elected as the general secretary of the CPI-M, veteran leaders Jyoti Basu and Harkishen Singh Surjeet will no longer be part of the party's politburo, but will stay on as senior figureheads. West Bengal ministers Nirupam Sen and Mohammed Amin, and Kerala home and tourism minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan are the new members in the politburo.
The United Progressive Alliance government has failed to address the agrarian crisis and the price rise of essential commodities and there is a need for a third alternative, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat said on Saturday. Speaking at the party's 19th Congress in Coimbatore, Karat said this third alternative cannot be merely an electoral alliance.
After its drubbing in West Bengal in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the state unit of CPI-M today began a two-day meeting to analyse reasons behind its poor performance in the Left Front-ruled state.
CP!-M general secretary Prakash Karat has written to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, government's key interlocutor with the allies on the deal, asking for immediate convening of a meeting of the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal by mid-March.
The Left party leaders are scheduled to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Dr Singh in a bid to evolve a consensus on the issue.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat have been keeping a low profile, but their interest for the presidential nomination has been debated upon by the media.
The UNPA top brass is meeting at a time when one of their estranged constituents, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is cozying up with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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."
Choosing the next Dalai Lama is too profound a tradition to be controlled by the Communists in Beijing.
Amid slogans of 'Lal Salam' and 'Long Live Comrade Surjeet', Parmajeet Singh, the elder son of the 92-year-old leader, lit the funeral pyre at the Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi at 5:20 pm in the presence of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, and family members, including his wife Pritam Kaur, two sons and a daughter.
Prominent Left leaders will lead the funeral procession of CPI-M leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who passed away on Friday.
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet died on Friday. Ninety-two-year-old Surjeet was suffering from an acute respiratory problem.
After the break over the nuclear deal, the CPI (M) has ruled out supporting the Congress in forming the government at the Centre.
Defending the decision to expel Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the party, CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday said they did not have any other option but to take disciplinary action against the veteran Marxist as he refused to quit the post after a party directive.
The CPI(M) on Tuesday termed the winning of trust vote by the Manmohan Singh government as the "sad day" of Parliamentary democracy as it was accompanied by charges of bribery and horse trading.
The mistake the enemies of the deal in India and the US are making is to seek satisfaction over their own wish list.
Ahead of the crucial Left-United Progressive Alliance committee meeting in Delhi on Friday on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the outside supporters of the Centre, after allowing the government to approach the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Thursday said they did not want the agreement to be operationalised at any cost.
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.
Racing against time, the government made the attempt during a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and top Left leaders Prakash Karat and A B Bardhan in the presence of United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
"The politburo wishes to point out that the UPA was formed to keep communal forces at bay. By taking such a step and the political consequences thereafter, that purpose will be undermined. We appeal to the partners of the Congress in the UPA to ensure that no such step is taken, which will help the communal forces," Karat said.
Making it clear that the Left would not budge from its firm stand, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said to 'Kairali' TV channel, "We will not compromise, if they go ahead with the strategic alliance with the US. If they go ahead to fulfil their word with President Bush, for 40 years this agreement will bind India. It will affect our independent foreign policy. We cannot accept that.
Left parties on Sunday decided to suspend participation in the United Progressive Alliance-Left coordination committee\nmeetings to protest against the government's decision to go ahead with disinvestment .
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday said it wanted a common approach by political parties when the Indo-US nuclear deal comes up for discussion in Parliament during the winter session.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, along with Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, had a fifteen minute meeting with Karat at the CPI-M headquarters on Thursday morning.
"We are surprised to see the observation of the apex court. We consider right to organise peaceful protest as a basic right of political parties and citizens. Judicial encroachment is uncalled for," party general secretary Prakash Karat said.
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.
Karat has said they will issue a statement on the resignation soon.
After two hours of deliberations between the United Progressive Alliance and the Left parties, it was decided that they would meet again on October 5 to narrow down their differences over the Indo-US nuclear deal
A book comprising a collection of articles penned by Communist Party of India-Marxist's General Secretary Prakash Karat trashes the deal.
Making it clear that the Left was not prepared to back down on the issue, Bardhan said it was up to the government to decide whether it wanted to continue or commit sati on the issue.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances