By IANS
Kolkata : Peeved over the open criticism of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) by junior Left Front allies, veteran party leader Jyoti Basu Saturday said such accusations would only strengthen the hands of the opposition.
“The open criticism of the CPI-M over the Nandigram issue and the government’s policies by junior Left Front allies would only help the opposition parties to gain political mileage out of it,” Basu told reporters here.
“Is this the way to maintain Left Front unity? The words used by some of the allies are not conducive to maintaining unity,” the former chief minister said after attending a meeting of the CPI-M state committee here.
Basu also expressed dissatisfaction over the decision of the Front constituent Forward Bloc to contest the panchayat (village council) elections in West Bengal separately.
Basu said Left Front chairman Biman Bose had been trying to sort out the differences.
“Biman is trying his best to iron out the differences. If the criticism against our party is genuine, we will accept it. But what is the use of criticising us openly when the opposition is trying to gain from it?” he asked.