CPM cosies up to Cong: We are ‘trustworthy’

In an apparent bid to placate the Congress,CPM state secretary Biman Bose today said as an ally,his party is “not erratic” but “principled and trustworthy” and echoed the sentiments earlier expressed by Chef Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee that the withdrawal of support from the UPA-I government was one of the key reasons for the Left Front’s recent electoral debacles in West Bengal.

Bose was speaking at a function at the Kolkata Press Club. “I feel we could not explain to the people the nuclear deal issue. At the same time,there are some state-specific reasons too for our setbacks.”

Claiming his party’s poll prospects are better than it was during the previous elections,Bose said the CPM does not put the Congress in the same bracket as the Trinamool,which he blamed for the current lawlessness in the state.

“Look at the Maoist issue. The Trinamool is saying there are no Maoists,but the Prime Minister is saying they are the biggest internal security threat. While we have evidence that the Trinamool is an ally of the Maoists in Jungalmahal,we cannot say the Congress has any links with the ultras,” Bose said.