Former chief minister Jyoti Basu, Chakraborty’s mentor, did not finally lobby the Politburo to get him a berth in the CC. With Chakraborty having missed a chance to get into the CC at the Coimbatore party congress in March end, Basu had said he would place Chakraborty’s case before the next Politburo.
However, the Politburo meeting on Tuesday discussed job allotment for the members of the newly-constituted body. Basu did not raise the issue of Chakraborty’s elevation at all. After the two-hour meeting, Basu said: “The issue was not discussed in the party. I had just made a suggestion.” At Writers’ Buildings, Chakraborty, when cornered by reporters, said he had nothing to say about today’s Politburo meeting. At the Coimbatore party congress, leaders like housing minister Gautam Deb and state secretariat member Mridul De, who are Chakraborty’s juniors, found berths in the CC. Basu, who could not travel to Coimbatore because of his health, was left watching the proceedings from the sidelines.
After the Coimbatore meeting, Basu had gotten into trouble with the party for openly voicing his disappointment at Chakraborty’s exclusion. Chakraborty, who often embarrasses the party with his frank and open comments, is known to have strong opponents within the party. Prakash Karat, the CPM general secretary, was dismissive about the issue. “The media discussed the issue. The party didn’t it,” Karat told reporters after Tuesday”s Politburo meeting.