Tacit understanding b/w CPI-M workers, TMC leaders: Yechury

Kolkata, Aug 18 (PTI) CPI(M) general secretary SitaramYechury today said there was a "tacit understanding" betweensome of the party workers and Trinamool Congress leaders inWest Bengal. The understanding, he said, was forged in a "desperateattempt" to capture the local bodies where TMC does not havemajority. "There are reports, there are allegations and charges.There is a tremendous amount of pressure, threat, terror,corruption and intimidation. It is a lethal combination. Sothrough these methods they are trying to lure severalcomrades. "Communists are made of better steel than others, butthere still may be some people – I am not ruling it out. Butwe need to resist this atmosphere of terror, threat andintimidation," the CPI-M general secretary told media. "TMC has been terrorising our workers and threateningthem with police atrocities. There is even an attempt to lurethem with monetary benefits. They have been doing this with anaim to capture the local bodies where they do not have amajority. "They are targeting those areas, panchayats and zillaparishads where people did not vote for them. This ishappening nowhere in the country. It is unprecedented evenin West Bengal," he said. Yechury, who was addressing the media at the end of thetwo-day extended CPI(M) state committee meeting to discussways to strengthen the party organisation and remove itsweaknesses, said the party was taking steps to revamp theorganisation. The state committee meeting, he said, was still on andseveral issues were being discussed, including the defectionof party workers to the ruling TMC. "To organise mass resistance against undemocratic methodsof TMC, we need to have a better organisation. Such methodsprove that TMC has not been successful in wiping outopposition parties from the state. We will bounce back in daysto come. We have faced such situations earlier too but we hadbounced back," Yechury said. In a bid to expedite decisions to be taken by the party,CPI(M) Bengal unit yesterday discussed removing the zonalcommittees from the three-tier decision-making process. The CPI(M) state committee has also discussed theproposal to have more than 25 per cent of party members frombelow the age of 40 years by the next party congress. The party, which is slated to hold a state-level plenum,said it will also look into the lacunae in recruitment,training and giving tickets to party workers.PTI PNT KKSRY