THRISSUR: Firing a fresh salvo and thereby igniting a debate over the decades-old demand ahead of the CPM party conference due in early 2015, CPM politburo member M A Baby on Saturday said that the demand for the merger of Communist Party of India (Marxist) with CPI has strengthened further among the common people and the public domain.
Speaking at a programme organised as part of C Achuthamenon Memorial talk at Costford in Thrissur, Baby said that even though there have been a lot of practical impediments in achieving this goal, steps should be taken in this regard as it is the need of the hour.
All political parties require a kind of inner-party democracy, which should be seen in their actions too, he said. Indian political scenario has been witnessing extreme communalisation and right wing polarisation in the recent time and in this context, the Left parties should stand united and fight against the evil of designs of radical forces, he said.
In reply to his remarks, CPI state executive committee member Benoy Viswam, who had earlier demanded the merger of the two parties, said that more than mere merger of the two parties, a policy-based reunification is the need of the hour. CPI in essence stands for reunification of the Communist movemen, but this does not depend on the CPI alone.
He, however, said that earlier even Baby was also against this idea. CPI national council member K E Ismail also said that CPM should take initiative for the merger and if the RSP was interested in it, it should also be considered.
Earlier, Baby had said that the LDF is morally responsible for the lapses in the selection of candidate at Thiruvananthapuram since he was approved and declared by the LDF.
While denying the allegations that Ernakulam Lok Sabha seat was a payment seat, he said that the party would respond to the allegations if they were raised in the appropriate party forums Similarly, the LDF would discuss the issue in its meeting and take steps to avoid such lapses in future, if the CPI raises the issue in the meeting.