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Mulayam can be the choice for PM: Surjeet
CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet said SP chief Mulayam Singh has ?every right to become the Prime Minister?.
As exit polls predicting a hung Parliament brighten the hopes in the Left camp of a non-Congress, non-BJP Third Front government being installed, CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet said in Kolkata on Thursday Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had “every right to become the Prime Minister”.
Speaking to Hindustan Times from Thiruvananthapuram, Surjeet said: “It is within Mulayam Singh’s rights to become PM. Every man and woman has that right if he or she is a citizen of this country. There is nothing wrong with such aspirations.” He, however, hastened to add that the time was not yet ripe to actively pitch for the formation of a Third Front alternative. “The Third Front could have emerged before the polls. It did not happen. It can also emerge after the elections. But it will depend on the results and the arithmetic in Parliament. At this stage I am keeping in touch with various political parties and keeping all options open.”
Surjeet, however, welcomed Mulayam’s recent statement that he would not go with the BJP after the elections but instead would work towards the formation of a secular government. “I have always been saying that it will not be possible for Mulayam to ally with the BJP. I am in regular touch with him,” Surjeet said.
Significantly, Surjeet refused to attach much importance to West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s recent statement that the CPI(M) would not participate in a Congress-led government but would support it from outside if the NDA was ousted.
“I think he made the statement casually. I am not contradicting what he said. All that I can tell you is that we have not taken any such decision yet. We are weighing the possibilities ... we are not ruling out anything. What we can say with conviction at this stage is that our party and the Left would play a crucial role in formation of the future government. Surjeet said the party would discuss all possible combinations that could thwart the BJP’s return to power but only after results were out. “We will finalise our stand during our meetings after May 15.”