NEW DELHI, 18 June 2006 — All is not calm and quiet on the political front with left parties having signaled that they may part ways if the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government continues to ignore their stand on several issues, particularly the increase in petrol and diesel prices.
Hinting that the ruling UPA coalition has been given a month’s time to deliberate on whether to remain in power with the left parties’ external support or to part political company with them, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said yesterday: “We have submitted a note to the UPA government. We will discuss with them the issues raised in the note after a month and then decide.”
The nine-page note lists areas of differences between the Congress-led UPA government and the left. Karat made these comments in Lucknow where he met Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party for around an hour.
The two leaders apparently discussed the possibility of forming a third front government, without the Congress as well as Bharatiya Janata Party.
Though Karat did not deny talking of this option, later he evaded elaborating on the subject.
When questioned on speculations circulating on CPI-M’s stand toward Janmorcha led by former Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Karat replied: “We are meeting leaders of various political parties in order to explore possibility of a third political force in the country.”
Karat asserted: “It did not mean that our support should be taken for granted.”
