'Friendly' fight: Adhir points fingers

Kolkata/Behrampore: With a fortnight left for Bengal to go to poll, the fissures within the Left Front and Congress refused to ebb even on Sunday when state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury - without naming RSP - heaped blame on the Front partner for attempting to derail the alliance talks. Adhir, while speaking to reporters in Behrampore, said the decision to contest in seats, even those which are expected to face friendly contests, have been taken after talks with CPM.
The fallouts of this statement were felt in the LF meeting held on Sunday in Kolkata, when Front partners questioned CPM on whether the alliance talks were done without keeping them in the loop. CPI state secretary Prabodh Panda said: "The alliance is with the Left Front and not CPM. So if there are any issues or talks, it has to be with the Left Front."
Adhir had told reporters in Behrampore earlier that the seat-sharing decisions "were taken in consultation with the CPM leadership. If someone now wants to throw a spanner in the works, how can we help it?" Realizing the dispute was mostly in Murshidabad, CPM state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra held a meeting with 24 zonal committee leaders and all local committee secretaries at the Murshidabad CPM district office. According to party sources, Mishra stressed that the alliance was born out of necessity. Mishra later told reporters he was hopeful of a solution soon.