Former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Wednesday claimed that the CPI(M) has lost connect with the masses due to wrong policies of former party general secretary Prakash Karat.
The CPI(M) has not been able to file nominations in more than 50 percent of the seats in Panchayat election as it has lost connect with the masses at the grass root level, Chatterjee said.
"They have failed to put up candidates as they have lost connect with the masses. This has happened because of the wrong policies of former CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat," he said.
The three-tier panchayat election was scheduled to be held on May 14 but now the matter is pending in court.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front, known as the main architect of the Panchayati Raj system since its inception in 1978, has been struggling to find candidates to file nominations in several seats.
Chatterjee, a former CPI(M) leader, was expelled from the party in 2008 for not resigning as Lok Sabha Speaker after the party withdrew its support from the Congress led UPA-1 government over the Indo-US nuclear deal. Karat was general secretary of CPI(M) at that point of time.
Chatterjee also demanded resignation of State Election Commissioner A K Singh allegedly for failing to properly manage the panchayat poll process that was marred by violence.
"I think the state election commissioner should resign now. The Commission has turned the election into a joke," he said.