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Left to face polls without Congress, BJP: Yechury

Special Correspondent

— Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam

UNVEILING THE PLAN: Sitaram Yechury, MP and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, addressing the media in Tiruchi on Friday.

TIRUCHI: The Left parties will face the Lok Sabha election with a front that excludes the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, according to Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

“In the long term, we want to forge a third alternative with alternative policies. This is a continuous process and it may not be possible before the next Lok Sabha polls. But we will have to forge a front for the elections and that will exclude the Congress and the BJP,” he said.

Addressing the media here on Friday, Mr. Yechury said that there was a possibility of more secular parties joining the 10 parties that had launched a nation-wide campaign against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. “We are confident more parties will join us. We have worked in the past with secular parties which are now with the UPA,” he said, refusing to identify the potential allies.

Alleging that the victory on the trust vote was engineered, Mr. Yechury demanded that the truth on the offer of allurements to MPs (to cross vote or abstain) be made known to the country. “We understand that the tapes on the allurements offered to the MPs have been sent to the Speaker’s office. The truth should be out and only then will the credibility of the system be restored. Investigations, if any, should be done at the earliest,” he said.

Through their joint nation-wide campaign, the 10 parties would demand a rollback in the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG, as there had been a fall in the international prices of crude oil, besides corrective measures to end the continuing crisis faced by the agrarian sector and suicides by farmers that were happening despite the loan waiver.

Answering a query on the party’s position with regard to the continuation of the alliance under the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, Mr.Yechury said the State committees would evaluate the situation in the respective States and take decisions consistent to the party’s national stand.

Asked how the Left parties hoped to thwart the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal now, he said they would fight against it in Parliament during the monsoon session, which was due soon. “We would ask the government to take the majority support of Parliament as promised by the Prime Minister earlier.”

He disagreed with the perception that the Left parties could suffer electorally on account of its withdrawal of support to the government over the nuclear deal. “On the contrary, we see a lot of support for us,” he said.

The cost of nuclear energy, generated through imported reactors, was the most expensive option. The money could be used for building schools and hospitals and people would understand the argument.

Answering a query, he said he saw no reason for an early election, which was anyway up to the government to decide.

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