CALCUTTA, 9 May 2004 — West Bengal’s Marxist Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya prefers mafia dons like Pappu Yadav and Syed Shahabuddin to Hindu extremists like Praveen Togadia and RSS chief K. S. Sudarshan.
Addressing reporters at the Calcutta Press Club, Bhattacharya announced that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) would support a Third Front national government even if it includes Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Yadav and Shahabuddin who were elected to Parliament from Purnea and Siwan in Bihar in 1999 and are in the fray this time.
“I prefer a secular Third Front with leaders like Syed Shahabuddin and Pappu Yadav if I have to stop Praveen Togadia and Sudarshan. I am against criminalization of politics, but Togadia and Sudarshan are worse than Shahabuddin and Pappu Yadav,” Bhattacharya said. He said there was no alternative but to join hands with “Mulayams and Laloos to keep the RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal in check.”
Bhattacharya said that a Third Front comprising regional parties such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam, Telugu Desam and Samajwadi was the best alternative to the current BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coalition ruling the country.
“The Third Front will pursue an economic policy in the interest of the masses. If such a coalition cannot be forged, then we can offer support to the Congress party from outside.
“We will not be part of a Congress-led government but will exert pressure that economic policies initiated by Manmohan Singh and still being followed by the NDA are immediately changed.” he said.
Bhattacharya’s desire for a Third Front is at variance with senior leaders like Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu who want a Congress -led federal government headed by Sonia Gandhi after the general elections.
Senior Marxist leaders have a soft corner for Sonia but Bhattacharya seems to have strong reservations about her. Analysts say Sonia’s characterization of West Bengal’s economy as “stagnant” while campaigning in the state earlier this week has angered Bhattacharya. About his own prospects of heading the Third Front as prime minister, the chief minister said: “I am still in my senses. I am a state level politician. West Bengal is my only priority. I am not a national leader like Jyoti Basu.”
