New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) In an era of parties forming coalitions only for short-term political gains, the Left Front government in West Bengal is the best example of a long-term alliance, Lok Sabha Speaker Somanath Chatterjee said here Friday. Criticising the political parties for engaging in unholy alliances after elections only to come to power, Chatterjee said there were exceptions like the Left Front government in West Bengal.

“During the illuminating leadership of Jyoti Basu, the same combination of parties constituting the Left Front was in power since 1977, and now continues even after his retirement, for over 30 years,” said Chatterjee, delivering a lecture on Economic Development and Political Consensus Building.

The Left Front includes the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).

The CPI-M had expelled Chatterjee for not heeding to its advice to step down ahead of the July 22 trust vote in parliament.

Alluding to the alleged cases of horse-trading when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government secured the confidence vote after the Left parties withdrew their support over the India-US nuclear deal, Chatterjee said: “Unfortunately, the spectacle of ‘ayarams’ and ‘gayarams’ still remains the bane of our political system.”

The instability of the governments formed with post-poll understandings and their “adoption of unquestionable methods to remain in power have seriously eroded the people’s faith in the system,” Chatterjee said.

Without making a direct reference to the land acquisition dispute for the Tata Motots plant in Singur in West Bengal, he said: “What is happening today in some states for the presumed benefits of some sections of people is essentially destructive… and are manifestations of the worst forms of confrontational politics, which will only take the country back to the days of economic stagnation.