Kolkata: Senior Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPM) leader Somnath Chatterjee said today (May 14, 2004) that the people wanted the Left to join the Congress-led Government at the Centre, but said a final decision on this would be taken by the party.

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"I am receiving telephone calls, even from abroad, expressing opinion that CPM should join the Central Government for stability and pro-people economic programmes," Chatterjee said during an interaction on Doordarshan.

To repeated queries if his party would commit the same mistake, described by Jyoti Basu as a "historic blunder" in 1996 when CPM spurned the offer of Prime Ministership, Chatterjee said, "Personal opinion is not important in our party. Our party's politburo and Central Committee will meet in Delhi to decide on the issue."