Yechury hints at third front at Centre

MUMBAI, Aug 31: Obviously referring to mudslinging resorted to by Union Ministers George Fernandes and Pramod Mahajan against Congress ch...

MUMBAI, Aug 31: Obviously referring to mudslinging resorted to by Union Ministers George Fernandes and Pramod Mahajan against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, CPM politburo member and senior Communist leader Sitaram Yechury today said the utterances of the leaders of the National Democratic Alliance NDA were 8220;irresponsible statements made out of desperation.8221;

The desperation is also evident from the brutal attacks on two CPM activists in Kerala by members of the RSS. This entire development is extremely bad for the democratic culture in our contry,8221; Yechury added.

Yechury, who is on a campaign tour of Maharashtra, was speaking at a meet-the-press function organised by the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh this afternoon.

When asked if senior Communist leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu would become the next prime minister, Yechury said no specific person was being projected as PM. 8220;Forming a Government at the Centre depends on various formulations in the post-results scenario. However, we will work towards providing a third alternative to the BJP and the Congress in the post-poll scenario and make all out efforts to keep the communal forces at bau,8221; said Yechury.

He also came down heavily on the Vajpayee Government for its various failures. 8220;Vajpayee could not run a Government with 18 constituent parties. How is he going to run the show with 24 parties in the NDA? His Government has failed on all grounds; it could not control inflation, failed to provide employment, there was a spurt in corruption during his tenure and importantly, a scary feeling was developed in the country about the BJP regime. The Union Government has completely failed to protect national security,8221; he added.

8220;In earlier stages of electioneering, various opinion polls predicted a thumping victory for the NDA on issues like Pokhran and Kargil. However, as the campaign is gearing up, the NDA is losing ground very fast and the leaders are worried of not getting the expected results, he added.

Commenting on the political affairs in Maharashtra, Yechury said the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government had made a mistake by dissolving the Assembly. However, no party or alliance will get clear majority in Maharashtra. There is a possibility that the BJP will ditch the Sena to join hands with Sharad Pawar8217;s Nationalist Congress Party,8221; he added.