Congress appeals Karat to drop 'no alliance' line

Appealing to Karat, the CPI(M) politburo member, to do a rethink on his resolution of "no alliance and no cooperation" with the Congress, Chavan said "any prick lines with the Congress can always be sorted out".

In a move aimed at consolidating anti-BJP parties ahead of 2019 polls, Chavan also asked Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh president and Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar to drop his anti- Congress pitch while dubbing him as an "erudite leader of the Dalits after B R Ambedkar".

In a politically significant development, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury's draft resolution proposing an alliance with the Congress was defeated in voting during the party's central committee meeting last month.

In a blog yesterday, Chavan said it was "flummoxing " that when comrade Yechury and comrade Raja walked shoulder to shoulder with other opposition leaders in the "save the Constitution" march, the Congress became "untouchable" for comrade Karat at this critical juncture. Chavan was referring to the march which was held in south Mumbai on January 26 and was attended by Left leaders, JD(U) rebel Sharad Yadav, NC's Omar Abdullah, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and others.

"I can only pray that that he (Karat) does a rethink before his party's general session in April, where his resolution will be ratified or rejected, in the larger interest of the country. Any prick lines with the

Congress can always be sorted out," the former chief minister said. He also took an apparent jibe at Ramdas Athawale, the Union minister of state for social justice in the NDA government.