Forty-eight hours before the much awaited elections results, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) got a shot in the arm with the Left parties on Thursday asserting that they would not let the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) form a government.
But, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) also pointed out that a decision on supporting a Congress-led dispensation or formation of a Third Front government would be taken only after the Monday meeting with their Third Front allies.
"No, the BJP will not come to power. We will not create a situation that helps the BJP," CPI-M politburo member M.K. Pandhe told media when asked if there would be a situation in which the Left parties stance ends up helping the BJP.
He, however, asserted that the Third Front would come to power and added that the Left would take the final call on the issue Monday.
The Left has been insisting on forming a government minus the Congress and the BJP but lately its leaders have been divided over backing a Congress-led government again.
While a section of the CPI-M is in favour of it, another opinion staunchly propagated by party general secretary Prakash Karat is to sit in the opposition instead of doing any business with the Congress.
The Left parties had provided outside support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government till July 2008, when they withdrew support following differences over the India-US civilian nuclear deal and perception of a pro-US tilt in foreign policy.
But Pandhe indicated that the Left parties would consider supporting a Congress-led government if the Congress changed its "pro-imperialist" policies.
"Until now, they haven't shown any signal (of policy change)," Pandhe told IANS.
When contacted, CPI-M politburo member and Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the party politburo and central committee would take decision on these matters in their meetings Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
CPI central secretariat member C.K. Chandrappan also said: "It is very clear that we will try our best to prevent the BJP from forming the government."
However, the other Left parties, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Forward Bloc, said they could not agree with the idea of supporting a Congress-led government to keep the BJP out from power.
"I don't agree with the idea of supporting a government led by Manmohan Singh to keep the BJP away from power. This is the stated position of the RSP till this time," RSP general secretary T.J. Chandrachoodan told IANS.
Forward Bloc national secretary G. Devarajan said: "I don't think the Left parties would back a Congress-led government.
"We would ask the Congress to support the Third Front to form the government," he said.
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