Strong possibility of third front Govt, says Buddha

The Bengal CM said in case the third front failed to materialise, the Left will support even a Cong-led Govt from outside.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Friday said that there was strong possibility of a third front government after the Lok Sabha polls failing which the Left Front would have no reservation in supporting a Sonia Gandhi led Congress government.

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"According to our feedback, neither NDA nor Congress would get a comfortable majority and hence we are working to create a third front which would be a real alternative to these parties," Bhattacharjee told a meet-the-press at the Kolkata Press Club.

Bhattacharjee, however, said that in case the third front failed to materialise, "to keep BJP led NDA out of power we would support a Congress-led government from outside despite our differences with them on economic policies".

Responding to a query on the question of Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin issue, the CPI(M) politburo member said, "It is not an issue at all, she is an Indian citizen and there is no constitutional bar on her becoming the Prime Minister".

Bhattacharjee, however, said that it was up to the Congress party to decide their prime ministerial candidate if they got the opportunity to form a government.

"It is their business, we cannot dictate", he said adding, "I hope other non-Congress allies will also accept Sonia as the Prime Minister".

When Bhattacharjee's attention was drawn towards the comment by the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that CPI(M) and Congress were plotting to stop NDA from coming back to power, he said, "Of course we are trying to stop them but not together."

"We are trying our best to stop them from our position and Congress is trying from their side," he said.

Commenting on the possibility of a third front, he said that CPI (M) top leaders were in constant touch with leaders from other parties like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Deve Gowda and Karunanidhi to form a third front government.

Bhattacharjee, however, remained non-committal on CPI (M) joining this government saying, "It is too early. We will join the government if CPI (M) plays a decisive role in it".

Asked who will be the prime ministerial candidate of the third front government, he said, "The question of prime minister will come when we will be in a position to cobble up the required number. There are so many leaders who can shoulder the responsibility".

Bhattacharjee ruled out any left leader leading the proposed third front government saying, "Jyoti Basu has already said that he is not a contender due to ill health and I don't consider myself as a national leader".

Expressing confidence that NDA would not get majority, he said that NDA's 'feel good' campaign has already been exposed by the 'Sari episode' in Lucknow while the so called stability argument was also 'false.'

"We neither want Gujarat-type stability nor the kind of stability we experienced during the fifty years of Congress rule," Bhattacharjee said.

Conceding that most of the regional parties were practising caste-based politics, the Marxist leader said that his party has no hesitation in joining hands with these parties because they are 'lesser evils' compared to the brand of politics practised by RSS.

"Let's combine with Mulayam and Laloo to stop RSS," he said.

When his attention was drawn towards Sonia Gandhi's attack on his government in her election rallies, he said that the Congress president has no idea of the developments in rural West Bengal.

"She came from the sky (by helicopter) and could not see the green fields. She should do introspection why Congress lost in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It was anti-incumbency factor," he said.