CPI(M), which led the Left Front's withdrawal of support to the UPA government over the Indo-US nuclear deal, has not ruled out supporting a secular government.
CPI(M), which led the Left Front's withdrawal of support to the UPA government over the Indo-US nuclear deal, has not ruled out supporting a secular government in which the Congress may be a part of but not leading it.
"I can't rule it out, but it seems unlikely," party general secretary Prakash Karat told Karan Thapar in CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate programme when he was repeatedly asked about the possibility of Left support to a government in which Congress has a participatory role but was not leading it.
"I can't say that now what's going to happen. It depends on the situation. I am not very clear about what is going to happen (after Lok Sabha polls)," he said, but was clear that BJP would not make it to the Centre.
The Left parties are working towards a non-Congress, non-BJP formation. "That is our first priority. At no cost will we support a Congress-led government. We will work for a secular government, but what shape it takes I can't say till after the elections," he said.
Asked again if the Congress leads a government in case of a hung Parliament, he said "then we will sit in the opposition".
Asked whether the Left would support a Congress government which is not led by Manmohan Singh, he said "we have never had problems working with any leader, a minister or the prime minister". It was purely a question of policies they pursued.
To a question whether he felt "betrayed" by Singh, the CPI(M) leader said he was "clear about what he wanted to do. So there is no question of being betrayed. Our problem was that we could not agree with the Congress government going ahead with a strategic alliance with the US."
Claiming that the 2004 post-poll scenario in which Congress was in a leading position would not be repeated this time, he said "we will be coming together with parties with whom we necessarily do not have full agreement ideologically or politically."
Asked whether the Left would compromise on their anti- communal ideal if they joined hands with parties close to BJP, Karat said there were several parties which were close to the Congress or the BJP, but not with the Left. "If we succeed in bringing them on to our platform, I think it is good enough."
On charges of corruption against J Jayalalitha and Mayawati, with whom the Left wanted to align with, Karat said while fighting corruption has to be on Left agenda, "you can't make corruption an issue for deciding the political programme and understanding between political parties. Then we can't have an understanding with any political party."
He said the Congress was the "prime source of corruption in the country, followed by the BJP with other parties coming in a lower category" and added that the UPA government had "refused" to order a probe into the Rs one lakh crore telecom
scam.
The CPI(M) leader said the Left parties were forging alliances with major regional and secular parties in each state which have a substantial mass base.
Jayalalitha had "asked us eight months earlier, even before withdrawing support to the UPA government that they would like to have an understanding with us," he said.
Observing that the United Front, NDA and UPA coalitions were forged just before or after elections, Karat said "by 2009 elections, some alignments will develop, a third alternative will emerge. It will not just be the TDP or AIADMK, others will join us in the third front."
Regarding BSP supremo Mayawati, he said he was "constantly in touch with her. We have decided that if we put our best foot forward and win sufficient seats, then other secular parties will come along with us. This is what the Left and the BSP want."
When asked whether the BSP was not willing to give any seat to the Left in Uttar Pradesh, Karat said their understanding was "not seat sharing. That was decided six months ago."
"Ours is not an electoral understanding. But the (BSP) has promised us, assured us that they would be part of a non-BJP, non-Congress combination after the elections," he said.
TDP, Karat said, had developed relations with the Left in the last two years and co-operated on a number of issues.
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