After skipping several meetings of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on Saturday in New Delhi attended the deliberations of the party's top body which will finalise a draft mid-term review of its performance.
Bhattacharya has not been regular at the Polit Bureau meetings and had skipped the last meeting which was held early last month. His absence has been a matter of speculation as it was perceived that he was against the central leadership's handling of the party affairs. The Chief Minister had skipped last month's meeting which came soon after the party's drubbing in the Bengal civic polls, dubbed as a "semi-final" ahead of the next year's Assembly elections, in which arch-rival Trinamool Congress emerged on the top.
It was the second time that Bhattacharya had skipped a a politburo meeting after an election debacle in Bengal. He had earlier skipped a politburo meeting after the 2009 Lok Sabha polls where the Left suffered a huge blow in the state. The two-day Polit Bureau meeting, which began here this morning, discussed the draft resolution to be placed before the extended Central Committee meeting in Vijayawada in August. Senior Polit Bureau member M K Pandhe said the meeting would finalise the draft and will be presented to the Central Committee which will meet here later this month to give it a final touch. The finalised draft will then be discussed in the extended CC meeting. PTI
