indianexpress.com :: RS seat to remain with Bloc, says CM

RS seat to remain with Bloc, says CM

Express news service

Posted online: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 at 0114 hrs IST

Kolkata, March 3
In its latest bid to pacify the Forward Bloc (FB), which has been at loggerheads with its Left Front ally CPM in the recent past, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday backed the Bloc to reclaim its Rajya Sabha seat.

At the bipartite meeting between CPM and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) held at Alimuddin Street, the latter is learnt to have unofficially lobbied with the “big brother” to nominate its candidate to the Rajya Sabha, in place of the Bloc candidate.

According to sources, at the meeting, Bhattacharjee termed the idea of nominating a candidate other than a Forward Bloc member for the seat as “absurd”. The decision on who would be nominated to the Rajya Sabha seat did not depend on the current political tension between the Bloc and the CPM, the chief minister added, said sources.

All-India Forward Bloc General Secretary Debabrata Biswas is one of the five representatives in Rajya Sabha from West Bengal, whose term is to expire this month.

“According to tradition, the seat has always been occupied by a Forward Bloc member. However, a final decision will only be taken at the next Left Front meeting on March 6,” said RSP state secretary Debabrata Bandopadhyay.

Meanwhile, sources also said that Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) — one of the nine partners of the Left Front—¿ has asked CPM to nominate its candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat that is being vacated.

CPM sources said as the next panchayat elections would be the toughest one for the Left Front since 1978, CPM did not want to burn bridges with the Bloc.

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RS seat to remain with Bloc, says CM Express news service Posted online: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 at 0114 hrs IST Kolkata, March 3 In its latest bid to pacify the Forward Bloc (FB), which has been at loggerheads with its Left Front ally CPM in the recent past, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday backed the Bloc to reclaim its Rajya Sabha seat. At the bipartite meeting between CPM and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) held at Alimuddin Street, the latter is learnt to have unofficially lobbied with the “big brother” to nominate its candidate to the Rajya Sabha, in place of the Bloc candidate. According to sources, at the meeting, Bhattacharjee termed the idea of nominating a candidate other than a Forward Bloc member for the seat as “absurd”. The decision on who would be nominated to the Rajya Sabha seat did not depend on the current political tension between the Bloc and the CPM, the chief minister added, said sources. All-India Forward Bloc General Secretary Debabrata Biswas is one of the five representatives in Rajya Sabha from West Bengal, whose term is to expire this month. “According to tradition, the seat has always been occupied by a Forward Bloc member. However, a final decision will only be taken at the next Left Front meeting on March 6,” said RSP state secretary Debabrata Bandopadhyay. Meanwhile, sources also said that Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) — one of the nine partners of the Left Front—¿ has asked CPM to nominate its candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat that is being vacated. CPM sources said as the next panchayat elections would be the toughest one for the Left Front since 1978, CPM did not want to burn bridges with the Bloc.