Left may finally not back Cong

“If the Congress doesn’t repent, why should we rush to them?” a senior CPI leader demanded, adding no Congress leader had made any serious overtures so far to the United Front seeking support.

The CPI also formally decided to make all efforts to “preserve the unity of the UF”. “The election has thrown up a fractured verdict. In any case, where is the mandate for the BJP?” asked CPI leader Atul Anjaan.

The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), with five seats, and the Forward Bloc with two also formally decided to vote against theCongress in the event it seeks confidence in the House. “We want a secular, democratic front to be formed under the leadership of the UF,” RSP leader Abani Roy said.

Meanwhile, the CPM’s central committee today reinforced the politburo’s decision about “stopping the BJP.” But party general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet’s earlier line about backing the Congress has found few takers: in fact, a much tougher position against the Congress seems to be emerging, with sources indicating that if the Congress needed to prove its majority in a confidence vote, the CPM would abstain.

The Left Front will meet again on Monday to finalise its strategy but leaders concede that all their gaming will come to nought if Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP, with 12 seats, joins forces with the BJP.

Left sources said Naidu had acknowledged that four TDP MPs had been offered considerable inducements by the BJP, but that he would try and persuade them not to split the party.

The Left’s argument with Naidu is that out of 294Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh, the Congress in this election led in 174.

Naidu has been told that if he goes to the BJP, he not only loses the Muslim vote but also the Left’s support. “The immediate fight is now to stop Naidu from going to the BJP. Later, we will decide how to fight the Congress,” a Left leader said.