Mulayam important ally in Left's national struggles: CPI-M

Describing Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav as an important ally in the Left's nationwide struggles, a senior CPI-M leader Sunday said discussions will be held with him and leaders of other parties on the programmes to be adopted in the coming days.

Four Left parties - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party - were holding a national convention July 1 in New Delhi, as part of efforts to forge an alternative to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"Tomorrow's (Monday) meeting is very important. The charter finalised at the meeting will be discussed with various parties. The programme will be discussed with other parties and leaders, including Mulayam," said CPI-M central committee member Gautam Deb.

His comments followed a discussion between Samajwadi Party leader Sanjay Dalmiya and CPI-M politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Deb was also present during the talks.

"Mulayam is an important ally in our nationwide fight," said Deb, on a day Mulayam Singh announced that the third front was a post-poll possibility and prophesied that the parties desirous of forming such a combination would get a majority in next year's general elections.

The Samajwadi Party chief also said he had not held any political discussions so far with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had earlier floated the idea of a federal front of regional parties.

The Left's convention would lay emphasis on presenting alternatives to the economic policies pursued by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).