Basu’s appeal to Congress supporters dismissed

Kolkata, Nov 2: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Monday strongly defended its veteran leader Jyoti Basu’s appeal to Congress supporters to vote for West Bengal’s ruling Left Front candidates in the coming bypolls to 10 assembly seats.

However, the state’s opposition parties scoffed at Basu’s plea. While main opposition Trinamool Congress dubbed it as something "non-serious", the Congress rejected the appeal. "Jyotibabu is a respectable person. But we cannot accept his appeal to Congress workers and supporters. We have rejected it," state Congress working president Pradip Bhattacharya told. "Every party goes by its own political decisions. In this state, we have taken a political decision based on the local objective condition to align with the Trinamool Congress and the alliance has come out with spectacular success so far. We will continue our alliance," Bhattacharya said. "At the same time, it is our political decision to oppose the CPI-M," he added.