Shinde meets Left leaders

Maharashtra Chief Minister SK Shinde might have raised a cup of tea with senior CPI(M) leaders tothe cause of fighting communalism, but his brief meeting with the Left leaders on the sidelines of the CPI(M)'s politburo seems to have ensured that the Left votes in Maharashtra do not get split.

"I came here just for a cup of tea and negotiations over seats cannot be completed in such a short time," Shinde said after the meeting.

Yechury, however, admitted that the issue was brought up. He said the Left parties had shortlisted 18 seats in the state for contesting and that they would support the Congress-NCP combine in the remaining 270 seats.

The Left was expecting the Congress-NCP to reciprocate, though there was still time to work out a seat adjustment, he added.

Sources, however, said the Left had in principle agreed to be a part of the Congress-NCP combine pre-poll alliance, though their chances of securing more than five seats seemed unlikely.

The Left has a marginal presence in Maharashtra, the CPI(M) having only two MLAs in the state, but a splintering of the non-BJP-Shiv Sena vote is detrimental to the Congress given that the Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) stronghold's in Vidharbha is likely to cause the ruling alliance some trouble.

Shinde, when asked after his meeting with CPI M leaders whether the Congress was prepared to give 18 out of 288 seats to the Left, said it was for the congress high command to decide on the issue. Yechury, on his part, said that the Congress leader would discuss the matter with Sonia Gandhi and "then get back to us."

Yechury also said that he would ask Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav to not allow the secular vote to be divided in Maharashtra.