Somnath returns: Want to see 8th Left govt in Bengal

I am not in any political party and I do not have any interest in it either.

After almost three years of self-imposed political exile,former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Saturday returned to an election rally,campaigning for a CPM candidate.

Chatterjee,who withdrew himself after being expelled from the CPM following the vote in Parliament over the India-US civil nuclear deal,appealed to the people to vote for the Left Front. In an emotional speech,he said like Jyoti Basu,he too wants to see the 8th Left Front government in power before his death.

I am not in any political party and I do not have any interest in it either. I do not have more days left in my life. But my last wish,like Jyoti Basi,is to see the 8th Left Front government before I die. I will request you not to destroy Bengal. Do not bring back the dark days of 1975, he said,at a public meeting in Ballygunge constituency. He was campaigning for Fuad Halim,CPMs Ballygunge candidate and son of Assembly Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim.

I am ill. I am not into active politics. I do not also live in the city as I preferred to stay in an isolated interior area. But when Gautam Deb,who is like my younger brother,requested me to be present in one of his campaign trails,I could not refuse him. Moreover,I never expected this kind of invitation, said Chatterjee.