Will Kerala Rivals CPM, Congress Tie Up in Bengal? Wait, Says Prakash Karat

New Delhi: A day after Bengal Congress leaders met Rahul Gandhi to press for an alliance with the Left, senior CPM leader Prakash Karat told NDTV any decision on electoral alliance will be taken by the Central Committee -- the party's highest executive body -- when it meets in Delhi on February 17.

"Our Central Committee will meet in the middle of February to decide election strategy but it will be in overall political line decided by the 21st party congress last year," Karat told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

Last April, CPM'S party congress -- a triennial event to decide political strategy   -- had identified the BJP as the main political target but also made it clear that there should be no "alliance" with the Congress.

Yet, last month, senior CPM leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee made a statement that seemed almost reaching out to the Congress. "The Congress party has to decide which side of the fight they are on," Mr Bhattacharjee had said at a public meeting in Bengal.

"In Bengal, we have given the call that all forces should come together to fight the Trinamool. But the tie-up with Congress is just one aspect. There are other factors as well," Mr Karat said.

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The political dilemma for the Left is how to justify an alliance with the Congress in Bengal when the party is their biggest rival in Kerala. That's a question CPM's central committee must effectively answer before taking a decision.