Left hits back at Indian PM; says Third Front isolated BJP

New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) Left parties Saturday hit back
at Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over his charge that
the Third Front was helping the main opposition BJP in the Lok
Sabha polls, saying the Congress had instead failed to check
the saffron forces.

One of the Left parties, Communist Party of India
(CPI), also said that the PM's statement that he would have
quit if he had failed to get the Indo-US nuclear deal passed,
showed that he had made it his "personal agenda" and had
"pressurised" the Congress and the allies.

On Singh's charge, Communist Party of India-Marxist
(CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat told PTI that "it is
not the Congress, but the non-Congress, non-BJP alternative
which have effectively put paid to the chances of BJP coming
to power at the Centre. It is only this alternative which has
isolated the BJP."

Karat, who is campaigning in southern state of
Karnataka, said: "BJP cannot even make its mark in states like
Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh where its traditional
allies have joined the Third Front as the secular alternative
is emerging stronger with more UPA allies falling in line".

"Therefore, it is an illusion that the formation of
Third Front would automatically help the BJP come back to
power," he said.

Communist Party of India (CPI) National Secretary D
Raja said the Prime Minister's remarks against Third Front
showed that Congress and BJP were getting "jittery" over the
emergence of the non-BJP, non-Congress alliance as a viable
alternative.

He wanted the Prime Minister to realise that India is
not a bipolar polity and therefore it was obvious that such
alliances would emerge. "The Prime Minister-in-waiting L K
Advani's attack on the emerging alliance also reflected the
saffron desperation".

Regarding the Prime Minister's statement on the
nuclear deal, Raja said "it is an admission that the Prime
Minister had made the nuclear deal his personal agenda. It is
also an admission that the Prime Minister did pressurise his
party and the allies on the issue."

"It is for the Prime Minister to explain why did he
take the issue to the personal level," the CPI leader said.

Asked about the Prime Minister's statement that the
Left has always been on the "wrong side" of history, Raja said
"for four and a half years he was taking the Left support. Did
he not realise it then? At that time it was okay.

"It is the Left which has been the driving force in
history. History is always on the side of the Left. It was
only Manmohan Singh's policies which have been responsible for
the growing poverty, job losses and a badly hit economy," he
said. PTI MS
PMR
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