By NNN-PTI,
Kolkata, India : Virtually kicking off the poll campaign for the coming Lok Sabha (Lower House) elections, West Bengal state Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee strongly pitched for a third alternative at the Centre (federal) minus the Congress and BJP.
“We have to prevent the BJP (from returning to power) and remove the Congress and work for a third alternative at the Centre. This is not an easy task. We have to toil hard,” he said.
A non-Congress and non-BJP government “will work in the interest of the people, pursue an independent foreign policy and work against imperialism and communalism”, Bhattacharjee said.
The CPI-M politburo member charged that the Congress “was tilting towards the US, thinking it to be a sincere friend.” “It will spell doom if the government pursues a pro-US policy. The economic meltdown originated from the US and affected the IT and other industries in our country. The sword of retrenchment is dangling overhead,” he said.
Stating that the Centre had been urged not to kowtow to the USA, he said “Don’t try to be their younger brother. The previous Vajpayee government had followed a pro-US policy and the Manmohan Singh government is toeing the same line.” Bhattacharjee also lashed at the BJP alleging that if the saffron party returned to power, then the entire country would be in flames.
Bhattacharjee was addressing the open session of the 15th State Conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India.