Sushma's advice to potential ally

The marginalised Left parties are desperate to get new friends in Parliament. Recently, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta held a secret meeting with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) deputy leader in the lower House, Sushma Swaraj, and asked her if there could be “floor co-ordination” between the two sides. According to BJP sources, Dasgupta told Swaraj that the Left (with 34 MPs in the Lok Sabha) was not getting to raise its voice in the House. “Trinamool Congress MPs get a lot of chance to speak but we can’t raise our issues. At times, our notices on important matters don’t even reach the ballot box of the secretariat,” Dasgupta told Swaraj. Swaraj told Dasgupta that her party had no problem in coordinating with the Left but asked, “Will CPI(M) also agree to this arrangement? You please go and talk to them.” While CPI is eager to forge an “alliance” with BJP, CPI(M) may be worried about the possible consequences.