After playing a key role in selecting Pratibha Patil as the UPA-Left nominee for presidential poll, the Left parties now want to distance themselves from the Congress.
Will not take part in a joint press conference to defend Patil
NEW DELHI: After playing a key role in selecting Pratibha Patil as the UPA-Left nominee for presidential poll, the Left parties now want to distance themselves from the Congress.
Though they signed a joint UPA-Left statement defending her against NDA allegations, they have reservations on a presidential campaign with the Congress. Was it her talking to the soul of the dead or the comments on veil worn by Muslim women or was it sheer Congress phobia, the comrades are not telling.
Interestingly, Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) MP in Rajya Sabha and politburo member, and Gurudas Dasgupta, CPI leader in the Lok Sabha, had signed Patil's nomination papers in the company of Congress top brass, including Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on June 30. But on Tuesday, they refused to a joint UPA-Left press conference to defend Patil.
While there was no official word as to why they were avoiding the Congress, a CPI(M) source said “it is part of our strategy as we are planning to harden our stand against the Congress after the presidential polls”. He admitted that some of the unsavoury comments made by Patil had embarrassed the Left parties.
Patil is visiting all state capitals to seek votes. The Left parties in West Bengal and Kerala are loath to be seen in the company of Congressmen when she visits their states. In Kolkata, some Left leaders reportedly told Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee not to organise a joint meeting of Congress and Left MLAs in the assembly.
But Buddha, a friend Manmohan Singh, is trying to convince his party colleagues and other Left parties to change their minds.
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