Scotching the rumours on his chance as the next vice president, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan on Sunday clarified that he will not be the Left’s choice for the slot.
He explained that CPI does not allow its workers to be hijacked for such purposes. He told reporters that he has to conduct the party congress in March next year. The veteran communist leader who guided the party for the last 11 years, further said that as a CPI member himself, a fair consensus on his candidature cannot be arrived at.
The CPI leader also met his CPM counterpart Prakash Karat on the same day to discuss the polls.
The four Left parties, who support the ruling coalition from outside will meet here on Thursday for firming up their stand on the vice-presidential candidate.
On the UNPA’s statement that the Left should first withdraw support to the UPA before it could expect the regional grouping’s support, Mr Bardhan said, “We can’t break our relationship (with the UPA) just because of their statement.”
He maintained that the Left would strive to put up a non-Congress candidate.
, he said, “The Left will take the initiative to propose the name of a person who is secular, is able to conduct the proceedings of the Rajya sabha and has a standing in public life. We will try to ensure that all UPA allies reach a consensus.We will be happy if UNPA is on  the board too.”
Mr. Bardhan, however remained non-commital on whether the chosen candidate would be from political parties or not.