RPI, AIFB not to back Cong bid for new govt

NEW DELHI, April 5: As the numbers game hots up, two of the minor Left parties which command a princely seven seats in the Lok Sabha, hav...

NEW DELHI, April 5: As the numbers game hots up, two of the minor Left parties which command a princely seven seats in the Lok Sabha, have said they will not vote in favour of the Congress should it form a government.

While the two dominant Left parties, CPI(M) and the CPI, have repeatedly offered to extend issue-based support to the Congress in the event of it making a bid for government, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) have categorically ruled out their support to the Congress.

“The RSP leadership has taken a decision to support efforts to bring down the BJP government. But we are of the opinion that the BJP and the Congress are of the same coin”, said Abani Roy, veteran RSP leader. The RSP has five seats in the Lok Sabha.

Blaming the Congress for what the RSP describes as the economic disaster looming ahead for the country, Roy said his party holds the Congress responsible for embarking on the liberalisation route.

This view is shared by the Forward Bloc as well which has two seats in the current Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, reacting to the day’s political developments, CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet said, the BJP had no moral authority to continue in office since it had not succeeded in persuading its ally, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha to back down.

Despite being rebuffed by the Congress a number of times, Surjeet once again reiterated that the United Front parties and Left parties would extend issue-based support in the event that the Congress forms a government.

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Sharing similar views, CPI National Secretary D Raja said the BJP was fighting a losing battle but was putting up a brave face to instill confidence in its allies. “The BJP has lost its moral authority to rule. And its political credibility is already gone”, Raja said.