CPM torn between China & Latin America

KOZHIKODE: The search for an Indian model of socialism resulted in heated debate on the fourth day of the CPM party congress. Sources said there was a sharp division of opinion among delegates about which model should be followed by Indian Marxists - Chinese or Latin American.
"During the debate, we analysed experiences of socialist and Latin American countries.The South African model, where the Communist party is sharing power for three decades, also came up for discussion. The whole exercise is to evolve a model suitable to India based on the concrete situation here," said politburo member Sitaram Yechury who had moved the resolution "on some ideological issues" before the congress on Friday.
It is learnt that the majority of delegates who took part in the discussion criticized the Chinese model of economic growth. The emergence of new capitalists in the country, the growing gap between the haves and have-nots and meagre wages labourers in Chinese factories get were all pointed out by delegates as a deviation from the socialist line. Some delegates from northern India suggested that the CPM should emulate the Left governments in Latin America rather than looking up to China. But, delegates from Kerala and Bengal apparently supported the good elements of the Chinese model and suggested that those should be imbibed in the Indian model.
Though there were reports that a section of delegates even pointed at a possibility of a counter-revolution happening in China, Sitaram Yechury denied those. "If there is a possibility of revolution, there are chances of people supporting it. But China looks very stable, prosperous and thriving now. There might be shortcomings in some areas. They are trying to overcome those and we wish them all success," he said.
The ideological resolution analysed socialist alternatives across the globe while trying to focus on how to strengthen the political process in India. "The main problem is that the political alternative for imperialist globalization is not strong. Our focus is on how to build the political alternative,'' said Yechury hinting at the CPM's ambitions, overweening its critics may say, to rush into that breach.