AGP's saffron tilt worries Left

GUWAHATI, January 24: Wary of being tricked into an indirect alliance with the saffron brigade, the CPM has made it clear that an electoral tie-up with the Asom Gana Parishad is possible only if the ruling party proves that it has nothing to do with the "communal BJP". The CPM's strategy is to pressure its ally into severing its alleged links with the BJP before the Assembly elections. The polls are tentatively slated for April-May. The CPM is likely to formally declare its stand at a state-level party rally here on Sunday. Senior AGP leaders will congregate in Nagaon for a conference the next day. The ruling party's electoral strategy is likely to be finalised at the conference. The CPM is supporting the AGP-led government from outside, but the other Left party - the CPI - is a part of the coalition ministry. The CPM has two seats in the 126-member Assembly, while the CPI has three and the AGP 63. The three-day meeting of the CPM's central committee ended in the Orissa capital of Bhubaneswar on Monday after the party leadership endorsed the strategy for the ensuing elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. "The party will be prepared for seat adjustments with the AGP and conduct an election campaign highlighting the danger posed by the BJP and the discredited policies of the Congress," said a resolution adopted by the CPM's central committee on Assam. Cautioning the people against allowing the BJP to become a force to reckon with in Assam, the CPM central committee said the party was trying to make inroads into the state by indulging in "communal" politics. "This will have a disastrous impact on the state, which has a diverse composition of religious and ethnic minorities," it said. The CPM is not the only Left party to be worried over the "budding relationship" between the AGP and the BJP. Both the CPM and the CPI saw red when a Lok Sabha member from the Shiv Sena, Sanjay Nirupam, participated in a rally organised by the ruling party's youth wing here recently. During his visit to the state in November, CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury pointedly asked chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta about the motive behind his participation in a meeting organised by BJP's student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Allegations about its dalliance with the saffron brigade have, however, evoked only vague rebuttals from the AGP. The Left feels the AGP's stand - "the Congress is our enemy but the BJP is not our friend" - reflects its willingness to tie up with the saffron party. What the CPM wants the ruling party to do is identify the BJP as a "communal force" and end the controversy once and for all. "The AGP has been saying that it does not have an electoral understanding with the BJP, but it has been unable to convince us that a deal will not be struck soon," a CPM leader said. Apart from its tilt towards the BJP, the AGP's "non-performance" in matters of governance has been a source of embarrassment for the CPM, he said. "Being an ally of the ruling party, we have had to share the stigma of non-performance. We have to seriously work towards constitution of a third front with like-minded parties to keep the Congress and the BJP in check," the Left leader added.