: CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat ruled out any alliance with the Congress in West Bengal in future on the ground that the understanding forged by the Left Front with it was found to be not in conformity with the party [CPI (M)’s] political line. It is also averse to tying up with either the AIADMK or the DMK.
“We have formed alliances with the two dominant regional parties in Tamil Nadu since 1967 but it did not help us grow.
“Alliances with such regional players have not yielded significant dividends. We therefore resolved at our party congress held in Visakhapatnam to go it alone. We started there on an independent political projection. The effort will not yield results in the immediate future but eventually make the party stronger,” he asserted.
‘Reign of terror’
in West Bengal
Addressing media persons here on Thursday, Mr. Karat said there was no point in forging alliances with regional parties in States at the cost of the party’s ambition to expand its support base to a stage where it could influence the political discourse. It was with this idea in mind that the CPI (M) had refrained from joining hands with the Telugu Desam in the last Assembly elections. Mr. Karat said the election tactics deployed by the All India Trinamool Congress and the violence unleashed by its goons helped Mamata Banerjee’s party in stealing a march over its rivals. “Nine workers and supporters of the CPI(M) were killed during the election campaign and our party offices are still under occupation by gangsters”, he said. Asked why the CPI (M) maintained distance from the CPI, Mr. Karat said the two parties got closer and were firmly on the path to re-uniting the Left forces. “We are closely working to reconcile the ideological differences that set us apart,” he affirmed.
Mr. Karat said the CPI(M) was launching a nationwide campaign from July 11 to 17 against the Central government’s failure to contain the price rise and create the promised number of jobs.
