Krishnagar: In a clear message to
alliance partner Trinamool Congress, West Bengal Congress
president Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday the basics of coalition
politics is to give a partner its due and the 'golden
opportunity' of removing the ruling Left Front should not be
frittered away.
"But in the name of coalition if it becomes a
one-party affair, controversy and conflict are inevitable. We
don't want this golden opportunity (of removing the LF) after
34 years squandered away," Mukherjee told the 'chintan
baithak' of the state Congress here in Nadia district.
"The principle of coalition politics is to give an
alliance partner its due respect and power," he said.
Noting that the Lok Sabha election results proved that
Left rule in the state was heading for an end, he said "no
rash decision or act should destroy this long-cherished
aspiration of ending the left regime. If this happens it would
be a historic blunder," he said.
Hoping that the alliance between the two parties would
continue till the 2011 assembly elections in the state, he
described Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee as a 'popular
leader'.
Admitting that after the party's split in 1998,
Congress in the state weakened, Mukherjee said this, however,
had not diminished its importance.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 05, 2009, 17:42