quot;We won8217;t align with Cong, only back itquot;

Did she act under your pressure?

Or why would she have done it? The second occasion was when our party supported the Emergency. Soon after that, when the party held the Bhatinda Congress, it confessed this was a mistake.

And now?

Firstly, we made it clear at the recent party congress in Chennai that 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.Secondly, at their Pachmarhi conclave, the Congress leadership has not undertaken a real review of their past policies, particularly in matters of economic policies8230;We did not expect a total reversal of their policies, but we did expect a thorough review8230;Insuch 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 12th Lok Sabha, we can think of extending support from outside to the Congress.

Would you consider an alliance if the Congress did undertake a thorough review of its policies?

Even then we may not do so. 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.

What about adjustments with the Congress in elections, including the November polls?

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 otherparties, nor do we want to be cornered into a couple of seats here and there depending on their mercy or charity.

You are supposed to have met Sonia Gandhi8230;

I never met her. I received a message but I wasn8217;t here. She had a meeting with Comrade Indrajit Gupta and a couple of meetings with Comrade Harkishen Singh Surjeet.

What was the upshot?

She was trying to see how far the Left and Congress could go in fighting communal forces and having a secular alternative.

Don8217;t you think she has now taken steps in the other direction8230;?

I wouldn8217;t say so. The point is what exactly is the appropriate time. 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.

Are youmoving towards this new front?

The first move we are thinking of is to have meetings with the DMK sometime in the middle of October.

To bring them back into the fold?

They never went away. Comrade Surjeet and I had a meeting with Mr Karunanidhi. He is very receptive to the idea of a third front. There were two aspects he went into, one which we appreciate, namely that in a federal set-up, a state government has to cooperate with the Centre8230;But this does not oblige the state party to support the party running the Government at the Centre.

There was a time when the Left parties were opposed to dynastic rule. Now you seem reconciled to Sonia Gandhi8230;

We don8217;t want to enter into a discussion on who they choose as their leader8230;

I am talking about the principle of dynastic rule8230;

As a principle, one doesn8217;t like dynastic succession. Unfortunately, it is there in several formations.

Do you feel the Bihar developments have given an impetus to the process of formationof a new third front?

What you see just now is a response by the democratic opposition to a politically motivated misuse of Article 356. As far as the CPI is concerned, it has opposed the Laloo regime and the Rabri Government and has several times voted against it. If the Rabri Government has to fall, let it fall through the democratic process of the Assembly voting her out.

So your support to Laloo is a limited one on the issue of Article 356?

Yes. There was a strong view at the Inter-State Council meeting during the UF days that Article 356 should be scrapped. Everyone, and this included the BJP chief ministers, agreed that it is a rare contingency measure needed to maintain the unity of the country. At no time was it meant to be used on the plea of law and order. Tomorrow, someone can argue that there is a breakdown of the Constitution in Delhi because it has had no power or water or that vegetables are selling at Rs 40 a kg.

They say that Rabri is a proxy for Laloo. I do not think it isanyone8217;s case that Laloo should move out of her house, and he is a leader of the RJD. You can argue what business do Balasaheb Thackeray or Khushabhau Thakre have to speak on how the Government should be run. The fact is that these are leaders of the parties running the Government. Everyone knows that it the Rabri ministry is not a good government. The point is does it justify the use of Article 356?

In what way has your party had to transform itself against the backdrop of worldwide changes like the collapse of the Soviet Union, economic reforms in China and the imperatives of coalition politics at home?

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.

In the new context, what if one were to describe you as social democrats?

I would resent it very much. We firmly adhere to the ideology of Marxism-Leninism.