CPI(M) Politburo meets

New Delhi, Sep 5 (PTI) The Communist Party of
India-Marxist (CPI-M) Politburo on Saturday began a two-day
meeting to finalise a document to deal with its organisational
problems which led to its rout in the recent polls in its
strongholds of West Bengal and Kerala.

The purpose of the meeting is to give final touches to
amend and strengthen its "rectification document" that had
been prepared several years ago.

The meeting is being attended by all top leaders
barring West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee,
who is not well, and the party's Kerala Secretary Pinarayi
Vijayan.

The Central Committee had met almost two months ago to
discuss the factional infighting in its Kerala unit. The top
brass had later met and removed its senior-most leader and
Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan from the Politburo.

Earlier, the CC had also debated the electoral debacle
which had resulted in the CPI(M) parliamentary strength to
fall sharply from 42 in the 14th Lok Sabha (Lower House of
Indian Parliament) to 16 in the 15th.

The document is likely to carry out a "self-critical
evaluation" and recommend steps to stem the party's
organisational rot. The issues to be dealt with range from
factionalism and ideological deviation to corruption.

The party is expected to ask its leadership at all
levels to unite and launch militant mass movements on issues
directly affecting the people, like price rise, drought and
the impact of the economic downslide. PTI