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Alliance only if Congress apologises, says Basu

West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu says a post-election alliance between the Congress and the United Front was possible only if the Congress changed its policies and ''apologised'' for the wrongs it has committed when in power.

In an interview to Home TV, the veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said, ''We cannot accept it (a post-poll alliance) today because the Congress has not changed a bit and it is not a democratic party. Afterwards, I don't know what kind of apologies will come and what sort of changes they will make in their policies. But I don't imagine such a situation will arise.''

Basu said Sonia Gandhi should not be regarded as a foreigner. She was an Indian and had every right to join politics. He did not agree with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's reported suggestion that the Constitution be amended to prevent Sonia Gandhi from occupying the prime minister's office.

However, he took strong exception to Sonia's recent criticism of the performance of the West Bengal government. Basu said she had called the people of the state "fools" for voting the CPI-M and its allies to power in the state for five consecutive terms. "This," he declared, "had not happened anywhere in the world."

Basu said he agreed with former prime minister V P Singh that it is unfair to blame or hold Sonia Gandhi responsible for any alleged crimes committed by her husband in the Bofors gun deal. ''No honest person should do that (blame Sonia),'' he stated.

Referring to Sonia's apologies for Operation Bluestar and the demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, the West Bengal chief minister said these were meaningless and intended to win votes. ''Why did she not apologise to the people when the Masjid was demolished?'' he asked.

The West Bengal chief minister said Prime Minister I K Gujral had no political base of his own. The Janata Dal, to which he belonged, practically did not not exist in the Punjab from where he is contesting the Lok Sabha election. He said he was unhappy over Gujral contesting the poll from Jalandhar in Punjab with the Akali Dal's support.

"Gujral was elected to Parliament in 1989 from Jalandhar and he knows the people there," Basu said. "He could contest as a Janata Dal candidate and need not have shared the platform with the Akali Dal or with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal."

Describing Gujral as a patient person with a lot of knowledge on foreign policy matters, Basu said the CPI-M and he personally would have preferred Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav as prime minister.

"Gujral was suddenly made prime minister. He also never thought he would become prime minister. Our party had suggested Yadav for various reasons and we asked our colleagues to go around and find out the opinion of other parties," said Basu, "Ultimately, within three or four hours, they came back and we all sat together and requested Mulayam Singh to withdraw.''

About former United Front prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Basu said he had started well. "Deve Gowda had differences with Indrajit Gupta. As the Union home minister, Gupta should have asserted himself," commented Basu.

UNI

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