Even as the relationship between the Congress and the CPI(M) might be going through a rough weather at national level, in Gujarat, the Left parties are all set to go with the Congress and other secular parties to help them fight against the Narendra Modi-led BJP. The election for the state is scheduled in mid-December.
?We will try our level best to defeat Modi. In the constituencies where we are not contesting, we will use our strength to defeat the BJP candidate. Our vote in those places could be for Congress, BSP, a rebel or an independent, provided that the candidate must have secular credentials and oppose Modi?s ideology,? said CPI(M) Gujarat secretary Arun Mehta. ?Modi is even using the state machinery to garner votes,? Mehta told FE from Ahmedabad.
The CPI and CPI(M) have decided to face the elections together. Sources in the Left indicated that both the parties could well be contesting only less than 20 seats out of the total 182. The CPI(M) politburo will decide about the election strategy, number of candidates and possible alliances in the coming days.
?We are not seeing any reason to change the strategy we adopted in the 2002 elections. We have only a limited strength there. But we will ensure that the secular votes do not divide,? a senior politburo member said. After the last elections, the CPI(M) had criticised the Congress for ?underplaying the communal agenda of Modi and avoided confronting it.?