CPI reviews debacle in Lok Sabha polls

NEW DELHI: Top CPI leaders undertook a review of the serious debacle the party suffered in the recent Lok Sabha polls along with other Left parties and decided to meet again next month to chalk out its future course of action.

CPI National Executive, which met here yesterday, held a preliminary review of the elections on the basis of a brief note prepared by General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy, a party statement said today.

The committee has asked all state units to review the poll results and send their reports by mid-June, to enable the National Council to further analyse the situation and draw appropriate lessons when it meets from June 20 to 22, it said.

Earlier, while accepting the poll verdict, CPI had said the people were "ruthless" in punishing parties like Congress which had "betrayed their trust."

Observing that Left parties had suffered a serious setback, it had also said the elections had witnessed "unparallelled money power and malpractices", though CPI and the Left fought these elections "on the basis of principles and policies."

"There is a need for introspection. There is a need to rejuvenate and rework the functions and strategy of the party and the Left in the emerging situation," it had said.

"The people are ruthless in punishing the parties which betray their trust. The results are clear expression of the peoples' anger against the Congress misrule. In the absence of an alternative, BJP took the advantage and gained a massive victory," CPI had said.

CPI(M) Politburo had also met on May 18 to debate the results and review the emerging political scenario in the wake of a landslide BJP victory and the performance of Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. Its Central Committee will meet on June 7-8 for further debate.

The total number of MPs of these two Left parties have fallen from 24 in the 15th Lok Sabha to 10 now, including nine of CPI(M), rendering them virtually politically irrelevant in the House. RSP and Forward Bloc, which had two MPs each in the previous Lok Sabha, have nil representation now.