The Hindu : Left, Cong. for `combined effort' at Centre

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 12, 2003

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National

Left, Cong. for `combined effort' at Centre

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI FEB. 11. The recent strains in the Left - Congress relationship are unlikely to come in the way of the two parties cooperating with each other at the national level against the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"The BJP is the principal adversary at the national level and we are prepared to cooperate with all secular forces against them,'' Abhishek Singhvi, Congress spokesperson, said.

A similar sentiment was echoed by senior Left party leaders as well.

This, despite their anger at Sonia Gandhi's attack against them at her Kolkata rally on Monday.

"We are not so immature as to allow these things to distort the larger objective of fighting the BJP," Sitaram Yechury, member of the CPI(M), said.

Both sides have exchanged broadsides in the run-up to the local body elections in West Bengal and the Assembly elections in Tripura.

There is, however, a realisation on both sides that differences at the State-level should not be allowed to come in the way of a "combined effort" at the Centre.

"Historically, we have been opposed to each other in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, and will continue to do so. But we also know how to keep the larger picture in mind," said a senior Congress leader from West Bengal.

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