Coimbatore, April 1: The CPM has turned down a request by a section of the party to demand a blanket ban on special economic zones (SEZs), trying out a framework that seeks to balance positions in Left-ruled states and elsewhere.

Eight delegates to the ongoing CPM congress moved an amendment to the draft political resolution asking for a total ban on SEZs but they were voted out last night. The eight were from Maharashtra and two other states where the party has been opposing SEZs.

Reflecting the compulsions of governance in Bengal, Kerala and Tripura and the need to lead protest movements in states where the CPM is weak, the party opted for the middle path of seeking changes to the rules governing SEZs.

The official document asked for restrictions on the size of multi-product SEZs, strict regulation of land use, measures to safeguard workers and an end to indiscriminate tax sops.

The document does not have any reference to a total ban, keeping in mind the competition the three Left-ruled governments, especially that in Bengal, face from other states for private investments.

Already, the Bengal party committee has expressed some concern. “If we can’t develop SEZs in our state amid the fierce competition, investments in export-oriented industries would not come. We can’t allow that to happen,” a leader from Bengal said.

General secretary Prakash Karat outlined the policy framework that will guide the Left-ruled states. This is the first time the party congress is discussing such a framework, although the party has been in power for 30 years in Bengal. The violence in Nandigram and the resultant debate are being seen as the prime movers behind such an exercise.

Replying to the discussion on the resolution, Karat conceded that the party did not realise fully the “multi-dimensional dangers” SEZs posed to farmers and others. When the Left supported the SEZ bill in Parliament, it focused only on the protection of labour rights.

After the “self-criticism”, Karat conceded that the Left was not strong enough to stop SEZs across the country.

But he stressed the need for a “balance between the party’s all-India policies and that of the governments of the Left-ruled states”, sources said.

“Industrialisation is an historical imperative for post-land reforms Bengal as well as Kerala. People voted for us in three states since they believed in our development programmes. But our governments have to underline their differences with the BJP or Congress-ruled states. We have to keep in mind that the actions of our governments have a direct impact on the party and movements in other states. Working within the constraints of limited powers, our governments have to take up the challenges thrown up by the neo-liberal economy and put forward alternative policies which the rest of the party can highlight as models,” a delegate quoted Karat as telling a closed-door meeting.

Karat urged the rank and file to learn lessons and “break the barriers of neo-liberal encirclement”.

The Left governments have to make certain compromises with the market forces in some situations in a globalised economy. At the same time, “we have to wage a struggle to protect people’s interest and try to push forward our alternative policies”, the delegate quoted Karat as saying.