Congress and CPM, which parted ways bitterly over the nuclear-deal, may kiss and make up.
Union external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee have, of late, been showering praise on each other, strengthening rumours of a possible Left-UPA reunion in the Lok Sabha elections.
If not an alliance, it certainly rules out the Congress and Trinamool coming together to unitedly fight the Left.
Mukherjee’s public praise of the Left and the Bengal government might even have AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s approval given that he is the officiating president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee in the absence of ailing Union minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi. What stood out was Mukherjee’s praise for the state’s most-criticised health sector.
At the inauguration of a private hospital in Kolkata on Sunday, Mukherjee praised Bhattacharjee’s “sincere attempts” to revive the state’s health sector. “I thank the chief minister for his sincere efforts. The people of Bengal do not have to rush to south India anymore for treatment and the credit for that goes to the CM and the state government,” Mukherjee said.
Bhattacharjee and his colleagues were quick to return the accolades. Describing Mukherjee as the pride of West Bengal, the CM called for unity of all political forces under him for the state’s development. “We cannot just say that Mukherjee is the country’s external affairs minister. He is handling so many important assignments at the Centre,” the CM said.
At another programme in Kolkata a few days back, Mukherjee had praised Bhattacharjee for his attempts at industrial rejuvenation and criticised Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee for her “irresponsible” anti-land acquisition drive. Left Front chairman Biman Bose said he was happy Mukherjee had spoken out the truth. Bhattacharjee said, “Whichever party Mukherjee might belong to, he is our man in Delhi.”
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