Karat turns down PMs tie-up proposition

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared to be keeping Congress options open for a tie up with the Left parties and other allies fighting his party in the post-poll scenario,saying he has had a good experience working with all of them.

Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh kept open the options for a post-poll tie-up with them,the Left parties made it clear that they would in no case support a Congress-led government at the Centre after Lok Sabha elections.

“There is no question of our supporting a Congress-led government at the Centre,” CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said when asked to comment about indications that the Prime Minister was holding out an olive branch for them.

The Left parties “have problems with the Prime Minister and his government on policy issues”,CPI leader D Raja said.

He said “the Prime Minister is speaking different things in different places on different occasions. Just a couple of days ago,he was in Kerala where he accused the Left of always being on the wrong side of history. Now,he says a different thing.”

Reacting sharply to Singh’s remark that the Left had often been on the wrong side of history,Karat said the Prime Minister’s judgment may have been “clouded” as he was on the “right side” of the US.

Referring to Indo-US agreement on partnership for democracy,Karat said “being on the ‘right side’,that is of the US,seems to have clouded his judgement” and led to the “anti-communist tirade”.

Raja said Left parties had withdrawn support to the UPA government due to “major differences of macro-level economic issues and finally over the Indo-US nuclear deal.”

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Raja charged the UPA government with not fulfilling the promises made in the Common Minimum Programme to mitigate the problems of the common people,the peasants and the workers.

“That is why we are now trying to forge an alternative non-Congress,non-BJP government at the Centre,” the CPI leader added.

Manmohan open to alliance with Left parties

Earlier,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared to be keeping Congress options open for a tie up with the Left parties and other allies fighting his party in the post-poll scenario,saying he has had a good experience working with all of them.

However,he expressed confidence that the Congress would be able to form the government with its allies. At an interaction with the members of the Editors Guild of India in New Delhi,he was asked whether Congress would take support of the Left parties in forming the next government.

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“We will cross the bridge when we come to it. As of now I am confident that the Congress would be able to form the government (with allies). I have dealt with the Left parties,Mulayam Singh Yadav,Lalu Prasad,Ram Vilas Paswan,Sharad Pawar. I have dealt with Jayalalithaa,DMK and PMK. I have also negotiated with Mufti Saheb (PDP leader). I have enough experience in dealing with diverse forces,” he said.

Asked whether he would like doing business with the Left,Singh said “well,I think circumstances will decide. But I was quite happy when as government we were dealing with the Left.”

The Prime Minister said the Left parties had strong views on the nuclear issue and they had to leave. “But it was a matter of great privilege (working with them).”