New Delhi: Their parties may be bitter rivals but that did not prevent senior Congrss leader Jairam Ramesh from wishing "all the best" CPI-M's Pinarayi Vijayan for the fight against BJP in the State and expressed his anguish over decline of the Left in West Bengal.
The former union minister conveyed his wishes and anguish to the key CPI-M politburo member as they met at the airport lounge here waiting for their flights.
While Ramesh was on his way to Mumbai, Vijayan was returning to Kerala after attending the meeting of the CPI-M politburo and leading a protest by Left Party MPs in the Kerala House against the raid by Delhi police on a complaint that beef (cow meat) was being served in its canteen.
"Just met Pinarayi in Delhi airport lounge and wished him all the best against BJP," Ramesh told PTI.
He said Vijayan told him that BJP is not a force in Kerala's political landscape dominated by both Congress-led UDF and CPI-M-led LDF.
"I told him that we need a strong Left in India and its state in West Bengal is alarming. Although we (Congress) are fighting Left in three states (Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura), I said, India needs a vibrant Left," Ramesh said.
The Congress leader said he told Vijayan that "for us nationally BJP is the biggest political enemy and not the Left".