Kolkata, July 1 (IANS): The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) will now adopt a strategy of equal distance from both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP in West Bengal, a line similar to the CPI(M).

A decision on this count was taken at the two-day state committee meeting of the CPI(M) in Kolkata that ended late on Sunday evening.

This new strategy is reflected in the party’s game plan for the forthcoming bypolls for four Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, with the CPI(ML) leadership directly appealing to the people to vote for the Congress-Left Front alliance candidates there.

CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has made it clear that the decision to keep equal distance from the BJP and the Trinamool Congress is mainly on the issue of corruption as there is no reason to have different perspectives for the two parties.

In fact, CPI(ML) insiders said that in the state committee meeting detailed discussions were held on how the party will organise parallel movements against the BJP at the central level and Trinamool Congress at the state level.

Insiders said that it has been decided the two issues on which the party will stress against Trinamool Congress in West Bengal will be corruption and highhandedness of a section of the ruling party.

In the meeting stress has also been given on a coordinated movement along with other leftist and democratic forces in the state.

Incidentally, the new line of the party as regards to equal distance from the BJP and Trinamool Congress is contrary to CPI(M)’s line in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, where the party leadership gave a call for “no vote to BJP” but did not issue an appeal for voting for any particular anti-BJP force.

Rather, their appeal to people was to vote for any party capable of defeating the BJP.