Elections are far off: Jyothi Basu

Kolkata, Sep 7: In an apparent rejection of mid-term polls following the UPA-Left spat over the Indo-US nuclear deal, veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu today said "Elections are far off".

" Polls are far off. I cannot say whether any alliance (against Left parties) will reap benefits, " he told reporters in reply to a question on the political spin-off following Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's assertion that she was no more with the NDA.

Branding Ms Banerjee as an 'opportunist', the nonagenarian leader said the Trinamool supremo had always vacillated in forging alliance, while the Congress was trying to get close with her.

Ms Banerjee said at a programme of West Bengal Madrasah Students Union that the Trinamool Congress remained a partner of the BJP-led NDA because of fondness for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but now the party was trying to stand on its own feet.

Her statement created a flutter in the political circle stoking speculation of her party heading for a break-up with the NDA and getting closer to the Congress in an attempt to take on the ruling Left Front in West Bengal.

" Never in my 67 years of political career I have heard anything so queer--that somebody should choose alliance because of fondness for a particular person, " Mr Basu ridiculed the Trinamool leader.

He alleged that neither did Ms Banerjee have any ethics nor did she have any acceptable logic in support of her stand.

Mr Basu also came down heavily on the Congress, saying the party was trying to woo Ms Banerjee despite her political fickleness.

UNI