Lok Sabha Polls 2014: Left sees red as CPI's A B Bardhan backs Mamata Banerjee

NEW DELHI: Left parties got a rude shock on Tuesday when veteran CPI leader A B Bardhan told a TV channel that he was not averse to backing Mamata Banerjee in a potential Third Front government to keep a Modi-led NDA from coming to power.

Bardhan's praise for a "secular" Mamata had the Left scurrying for cover as Trinamool Congress is its arch-rival in West Bengal. CPI hurriedly issued a statement distancing the party from Bardhan's comments.

CPI central secretariat said, "(The party) wishes to make it clear that as far as the TMC led by West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee is concerned, she is actually helping the BJP by polarising the West Bengal voters on communal lines. Her attack on the BJP is a got-up game."

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat outright rejected the idea. He told TOI, "The Trinamool has contributed to the rise of communal politics in West Bengal and Mamata Banerjee has an opportunistic record of joining hands with the BJP. No guarantee she won't do it again after election results are out."

Senior CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta told TOI, "Bardhan has been misquoted. There is no question of any tie-up with Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal or entering into any combination with her at the Centre." Left leaders from Bengal, locked in a bitter battle with the Trinamool, said Banerjee was promoting communal politics in the state.

Mohammed Salim, CPM central committee leader from Bengal, said, "In Bengal, people know that Mamata Banerjee is playing second fiddle to BJP's communal politics. Modi and Mamata are engaged in a mock fight to divide Bengal on religious lines."