Kerala, Tripura CPI(M) deny Rahul-Buddhadeb rally in Bengal any importance

Thiruvananthapuram, April 29: The CPI(M) in Kerala has given little importance to the joint rally of former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Kolkata on Wednesday (April 27).

The state leaders of both Congress and CPI(M) as well as a section of the media called the rally "historic". "Deshabhimani"---an organ of the Kerala CPI(M)----gave the incident a secondary coverage even as the prime publications of the state gave it much focus. In another Left-dominated state Tripura as well, the CPI(M) did not give much importance to the Rahul-Buddhadeb bonhomie as it found no space in the front page of the state's mouthpiece "Desher Kotha".

It can be mentioned here that Tripura's Left Chief Minister Manik Sarkar mocked his own party, the CPI(M), as the "third kid of the goat" to express disappointment over the Left-Congress tie-up in Bengal to topple the Mamata Banerjee government in the state. [Rahul-Buddhadeb joint rally: How conveninetly Congress has forgotten Sainbari massacre]

The camp of Kodiari Balkrishnan and Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala is upset with the tie-up and they were openly avoiding the bonhomie between the Left and Congress in Bengal. The refusal to give the development any prominence proves the souther state's CPI(M) is not at all happy with the development in the east. Balkrishnan even said after a rally in Kerala on Thursday that the closeness in Bengal will not affect the CPI(M)'s prospects in Kerala.

The camp of the nonagenarian VS Achutanandan, however, has supported the Congress-Left bonhomie in Bengal although according to experts, it is more a strategic move by the veteran leader.

The BJP, meanwhile, has used the Rahul-Buddhadeb rally to make its own case stronger and cement its claim on the Ezava vote-bank in Kerala which has traditionally been with the Left. The state leadership of the saffron party has accused the Congress and Left of having an understanding even in Kerala.

Kerala will go to polls on May 16 while the final phase of election in Bengal will get over on May 5. The results will be declared on May 19.

Oneindia News