Vijayawada, Kolkata:
With the upcoming assembly elections in Bengal approaching, it appears that the CPI-M is spending anxious moments trying to devise a strategy to put an end to Mamta's winning streak.
For the brainstorming session, battleground Vijayawada has been chosen.
The CPI-M's Extended Central Committee meeting is going to take place in Vijayawada on Saturday. Officially, the agenda is to adopt a political tactical line based on a Draft Political Resolution. However the prime concern seems to be winning over West Bengal, its bastion for the last thirty years.
For the CPM, things have changed over the past. Now its toughest challenge is from the Trinamool Congress.
Will the CPM be able to come up with something radical?
Many within the party feel that in the current political situation, nothing radical should be expected.
Nirupam Sen, CPM Politburo member, "The strength of the Left has significantly declined...tactical line that we took before the elections didn't yield the desired results...therefore, it requires a relook at tactical line before assembly polls."
Bengal has been the CPM's red fort for the last three decades. But given the poll reverses of the last two years and the fast approaching Assembly elections, there is a growing pressure to find a strategy for its toughest challenge in May 2011.
But the big question is, will the CPM be able to make a change in its stand towards the Congress?
The draft Political Resolution that will be discussed at Vijayawada says the party should oppose the Congress, the prime mover of the neo-liberal polices of the UPA government which represents the interests of the big bourgeoisie and favours a pro-US foreign policy.
Many see Vijayawada as a battleground between the central leadership's anti-Congress stand that brought the Trinamool and Congress together in Bengal to trounce the Left and the Bengal line which wants to drive a wedge between the allies and reap the benefits.
But signals are that Vijayawada may be a Waterloo for the Bengal line.
"There is some kind of stories in the media about the difference between Bengal line, Kerala and all India line. But I don't find anything different in the lines. I also do not think there will be any radical change in the stand we took at the Central Committee meeting," added Nirupam Sen.
The Bengal line losing is one thing. The CPM losing Bengal quite another. If Vijayawada doesn't come up with a strategy that can tackle the Trinamool-Congress combine, then that prospect could become that much more real.