Surjeet, who was replying to a question whether the next Politburo meeting would take up the issue of Basu's retirement and relieve him, hedging a direct answer, admitted: ``Basu's health is not good and he's aging and the party will work out a way to utilise his experience, his stature and immense contribution to the party.''

Giving hints that the party would discuss the issue of Basu's health in the party fora here this morning at the party office, he hailed Basu as the tallest political figure. Surjeet said Basu was a loyal soldier of the party and would do ``what party tells him to do.''

On the BJP and National Democratic Alliance, Surjeet, who was here to attend the two-day state committee meeting held to review the party's performances in the just-concluded LokSabha elections, said there was not much in common between them excepting power.

On whether the inherent contradictions within the NDA will lead to the fall of the BJP-led NDA Government, Surjeet said, ``nobody wants instability and we are not for toppling the Government.''

When asked whether, in the wake of the Bofors chargesheet, his party's equation with the Congress would change, Surjeet said: ``A single issue doesn't change equation.,". "For us both (the Congress and the BJP) are bourgeois landlord parties, but the Congress is not a communal organisation,'' he added.

Elaborating on the strategy of the Left, the CPI(M) general secretary said his party would have a two-pronged strategy, the focus of which would be ``people's issue and national unity.''

Later, Anil Biswas, who also happens to be a Politburo member, told reporters that the state committee which discussed the party's performances in the just-concluded general elections, will prepare a report on the issue. He said the state committeewill probe the reasons why Left's share of votes did not go up this time.