There will be no front or alliance with the Congress. We do not want Indian politics to revolve around two poles, leading to a two-party system. That is not the Indian reality and it will be the political perpetuation of the bourgeois system.

At their Pachmarhi conclave, the Congress leadership has not undertaken a real review of their past policies, particularly in matters of economic policies ... We did not expect a total reversal of their policies ... In such a situation, there is no possibility of any front or alliance. But we think if the BJP Government falls or is pulled down, and there can be a secular government in the 12^th Lok Sabha, we can think of extending support from outside to the Congress.

.. The possibility of the Left parties being in a front with a dominant bourgeois party which has been in power almost for five decades is just not there. But we do differentiate between the BJP and the Congress, even though both represent class interests of traders. But one has a secular tradition, the other is outright communal and influenced by the fascist ideology.

There is hardly any scope for adjustments with the Congress in the matter of seats for the simple reason that it is not the Congress habit to leave seats for other parties ...

As the largest party in the Opposition, it is the Congress which has to take the initiative. Our major concern is about the strengthening of the Left and building the third force.

That of course will be a process during which alignments and realignments will take place, and not something that would immediately rise from the ashes, as it were, of the United Front.

As a principle, one doesn't like dynastic succession. Unfortunately, it is there in several formations ...

We have learnt that any dogmatic or rigid view has proved wrong. Every country has to seek its own pattern depending on the situation and its own tradition. We have found a more flexible but principled approach ... We firmly adhere to the ideology of Marxism-Leninism.         (Source: The Indian Express, 30 September, 1998)