Left Front divided on boycott of platinum jubilee celebration of WB assembly

KOLKATA: Sharp divisions among Left Front members came to the fore over the issue of boycotting the platinum jubilee celebration of the West Bengal assembly, forcing it to ask it’s legislative wing to take a final decision.

“The Left legislative party will take a final decision on Wednesday,” Opposition leader and CPM MLA Surjya Kanta Mishra told ET on Tuesday.

The CPM and Forward Bloc wanted to boycott while RSP and CPI differed and felt they should not boycott a function that will be attended by the President Pranab Mukherjee and Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar.

CPI and RSP argued that the Left MLAs should attend and raise the issue of ruling party’s constant moves to suppress their voices inside the state legislature.

These two parties also felt that boycotting will also send a wrong signal among the common people which might have an adverse impact on the image of the Left Front as a whole.

“The ruling party will surely make it a major issue against us before the Lok Sabha elections.

Instead of boycotting the function, we should go there to highlight our views in presence of VVIPs like the President and Lok Sabha speaker,” a senior RSP leader told ET.

Already 56 delegates from over 20 countries have arrived here to attend three-day celebrations beginning today.