Welcome to politics | india politics
Friday, August 1, 2008
Karat rules out backing Cong after next polls
Ruling out any support to a Congressled government at the Centre after the next election, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday said his party would be accused of “opportunism” if it did so.
Speaking to a TV channel, Karat also lashed out at PM Manmohan Singh for the cash-for-vote scam and said it was far worse than the JMM bribery scandal. “It was on a much bigger scale this time. Manmohan Singh will never escape the moral blame,” Karat said, adding that Congress had adopted a similar method during P V Narasimha Rao’s tenure which led to the JMM bribery scandal.
Karat also challenged the government and said, “Let us see how they run this government with a manufactured majority. We all know how they won the trust vote with bribery, intimidation and blackmailing.” Putting in perspective CPI general secretary A B Bardhan’s statement that Mayawati could become PM, Karat said, “Bardhan was asked, do you think she can become PM. He said, yes why not. That is his way of saying that he has no objection to any particular leader becoming PM. We don’t look at it in terms of projecting an individual.”
On a specific question about projecting Mayawati as the next PM, Karat reiterated that his party did not look at projecting individuals.
As for not supporting a Congress-led coalition, Karat said, “We are going to call for the defeat of BJP and Congress. And after that, if you think we are going to support a Congress government, I don’t know, I think people will accuse us of opportunism.”
Karat also wondered why only the possibility of Congress or BJP forming a government was raised. “So, why do you think that there can only be a BJPled government or a Congress-led government,” he said, adding a third force could also be in that position. “Hopefully, we will be able to present some third force in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections,” he said. Asked whether the coming together of the Left with parties like BSP, which have aligned with BJP in the past, would create a durable third alternative, he said the Left was not going to project such an alternative. “Be very clear, I didn’t use the word third alternative. I have not talked about the third alternative... Our party’s understanding of the third alternative is not some combination to fight elections. The third alternative has to be in terms of policies and programmes,” Karat said.
The CPM boss said political parties which were not part of the Congress and BJP-led coalitions joined forces only after realising that they were opposed to the nuclear deal. “It’s only after we withdrew support, we said we would contact all secular parties which opposed the deal and which can plan with us to vote against the UPA government. And as part of the process, I met Mayawati, Ajit Singh, Deve Gowdaji. We met all of them and then came to a common understanding,” he said.
Karat also made light of the erstwhile UNPA led by Samajwadi Party, and said he never considered it a part of the third front
Speaking to a TV channel, Karat also lashed out at PM Manmohan Singh for the cash-for-vote scam and said it was far worse than the JMM bribery scandal. “It was on a much bigger scale this time. Manmohan Singh will never escape the moral blame,” Karat said, adding that Congress had adopted a similar method during P V Narasimha Rao’s tenure which led to the JMM bribery scandal.
Karat also challenged the government and said, “Let us see how they run this government with a manufactured majority. We all know how they won the trust vote with bribery, intimidation and blackmailing.” Putting in perspective CPI general secretary A B Bardhan’s statement that Mayawati could become PM, Karat said, “Bardhan was asked, do you think she can become PM. He said, yes why not. That is his way of saying that he has no objection to any particular leader becoming PM. We don’t look at it in terms of projecting an individual.”
On a specific question about projecting Mayawati as the next PM, Karat reiterated that his party did not look at projecting individuals.
As for not supporting a Congress-led coalition, Karat said, “We are going to call for the defeat of BJP and Congress. And after that, if you think we are going to support a Congress government, I don’t know, I think people will accuse us of opportunism.”
Karat also wondered why only the possibility of Congress or BJP forming a government was raised. “So, why do you think that there can only be a BJPled government or a Congress-led government,” he said, adding a third force could also be in that position. “Hopefully, we will be able to present some third force in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections,” he said. Asked whether the coming together of the Left with parties like BSP, which have aligned with BJP in the past, would create a durable third alternative, he said the Left was not going to project such an alternative. “Be very clear, I didn’t use the word third alternative. I have not talked about the third alternative... Our party’s understanding of the third alternative is not some combination to fight elections. The third alternative has to be in terms of policies and programmes,” Karat said.
The CPM boss said political parties which were not part of the Congress and BJP-led coalitions joined forces only after realising that they were opposed to the nuclear deal. “It’s only after we withdrew support, we said we would contact all secular parties which opposed the deal and which can plan with us to vote against the UPA government. And as part of the process, I met Mayawati, Ajit Singh, Deve Gowdaji. We met all of them and then came to a common understanding,” he said.
Karat also made light of the erstwhile UNPA led by Samajwadi Party, and said he never considered it a part of the third front
Labels: Indian Politics
# posted by gopi @ 6:53 AM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]