Open to National Platform Which Includes Left: Mamata Banerjee to NDTV

Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, told NDTV today that she is willing to join a coalition that includes her arch rival, the Left, if the Congress takes the initiative to form the group. Ms Banerjee, who in 2011 ended the Left's 34-year-long run in Bengal, made it clear that an understanding with the Left would not extend to her home state. "I am ready to be part of a national platform which includes the Left to fight communalism. This is not the same as an alliance in West Bengal, we will fight alone there," the 59-year-old leader said.