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Congress urged to end ties with IUML

Staff Reporter

Told to retain its secular character

Thrissur: The Congress should break its alliance with the Indian Union Muslim League, Saifuddin Chaudhury, president of the Party for Democratic Socialism (PDS), has said.

He was replying to a question at a press conference here on Tuesday on the sidelines of the seventh congress of the Communist Marxist Party.

“The Congress should retain its secular character and not associate with forces having religious or communal hues,” he said.

“A third front that is designed to weaken the Congress will be counterproductive. This will help parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party.”

The PDS, he said, will align with likeminded secular parties in the coming Lok Sabha elections. “The party hopes to align with the Congress and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.”

He said the Kerala unit of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) was reeling under factionalism.

“The CPI(M) has lost its ideological bearings. It has become power-hungry. Does the Left Democratic Front have a coherent policy for development, a clear-cut strategy to attract investment? Can the people of Kerala thrive in such a situation? As regards factions in the CPI(M), there are honest people cherishing old-world values and others with a modern outlook. I cannot say who all are right.”

Asked to comment on Tata having pulled out of Singur, he said the stand of both the CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress was flawed.

“It was difficult to reconcile both points of view. This made Tata pull out of Singur,” he said.

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