“She sees Maoists everywhere,” was how CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat reacted to the description of a group of students who had gathered for a TV show as “Maoists” by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday before she stormed out.
Mr. Karat, who was here to visit post-graduate student Vittala Malekudiya, arrested on charges of links with Maoists, initially refused to comment about Ms. Banerjee's comments on the CNN-IBN show. When reporters persisted, he merely said: “She sees Maoists everywhere.”
Asked about where the proposed third front was headed, he said: “There is no third front yet.” He had not mooted the idea. Mr. Karat suggested that the meeting between him and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav should not be read in this context. He said his party had relations with many parties, including that of Mr. Yadav.
He declined to comment on the affairs in the BJP in Karnataka. “If I start making comments [on such issues] there will be no end [to interaction with media].”
