Reiterating that the Left parties will work for a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative at the Centre, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat on Friday made it clear that the Left parties will work for the defeat of the Congress in the next Lok Sabha elections.
“We have made our position clear. After nine years of the UPA misrule, the Congress should be defeated. We are not going to work for their return,” Karat said. Replying to a volley of questions, Karat also made it clear that there was no question of supporting the BJP or a BJP prime minister. To a specific query to seek his comment on Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee announcing that her party won’t support Narendra Modi as a prime ministerial candidate, Karat replied: “For us there is no question of supporting Modi or anyone else from the BJP. She would support someone else or... We are not supporting the BJP or BJP prime minister.”
However, he was cautious on the possibility of a third front government at the Centre like the United Front government in 1996. “The situation is very different now. Let us see what happens,” he said. Karat had recently said that the Third front parties will be open to seek outside support from Congress to form the government after the 2014 elections, but his party will not help the BJP or the Congress to come to power. He also dismissed poll surveys saying “surveys are not in tune with the ground reality.” Recently, a poll survey had projected that the Left has lost further ground in West Bengal after losing the state to the Trinamool Congress.
However, he said that such a thing (CPM defeat) can happen only if “rigging takes place” like the one which took place in the just-concluded panchayat elections in West Bengal.
On the land boundary agreement with Bangladesh, Karat said that CPM has been supporting amendment to the Constitution for the purpose. “Unfortunately, some parties are opposing it. It (the agreement) is necessary and in the interest of both the countries,” he said. Karat said his party wanted Teesta water sharing treaty to be negotiated.
Solar Scam
On the solar scam in Kerala, Karat wondered as to why the Congress high command was continuing its backing of beleaguered Chief Minister Oommen Chandy whose resignation is being demanded by the Opposition. “I think there is some lack of communication between what is happening in Kerala and in Delhi. Every day, links of Chief Minister and other ministers with these affairs are coming to light.”