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Left will stay out, but will support next government

Suhasini Haidar in New Delhi

Although the Left parties are confident that the BJP-led government will be forced to quit, they will only give any alternative government formation their support from the outside, without being a part of the possible coalition that could replace this government.

Reacting to AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha's announcement today, in which she withdrew her party's ministers from the Union government, Communist Party of India national secretary D Raja said, "It is now obvious that the BJP government has lost its majority. They should resign immediately, and allow a secular non-communal government to take its place."

However, the parties in the Left Front are also clearly doubtful of how long such an alternative government will last. CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan indicated this at the end of today's CPI national executive meeting, in which the current crisis facing the government was discussed.

"We just want this government to go, and are willing to support any alternative," he said. "But in reality it is unlikely that any government can last its full term given the numbers in the current Lok Sabha."

However, he did say that the Left parties, while staying out of the next government, would support it for "as long as is possible."

Bardhan's comments came a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu addressed a rally in Calcutta at which he said that while the 'barbaric government led by the BJP has to go', no alternative government will be able to complete five years in office either.

The CPI national executive will meet tomorrow morning followed by the national council, and will discuss unfolding events in the capital as well as in Madras.

However, both the CPI as well as the CPI-M have already announced their decision to support the next government from the outside. "Nobody wants elections," said CPI-M general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet this evening, "And neither do we. So we will support whoever has the numbers to replace it."

"Even the BJP, which is using elections as a threat so as not to lose power, does not really want elections," concurred his Bardhan.

The Left bloc has a crucial 49 seats in the Lok Sabha, and as a result no alternative is possible to the current BJP-led coalition without the Left's blessings. Another important point is that they are unlikely to forward support to any government that will follow an agenda of economic liberalisation.

"The economic policy of the next government will be the first cause for worry with our party, " said a member of the CPI national executive, explaining that the Left's support will be purely issue-based.

It now also seems probable that in the event of the BJP losing a confidence vote in Parliament, the government that replaces it may be headed by a non-Congress option. While the leaders of the Left Front deny it on the record, they are rumoured to favour a government led by Rashtriya Lok Manch leader and former defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Many other names are also doing the rounds in the capital, as acceptable prime ministerial options, including those of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, as well as AIADMK general secretary Jayalalitha. And negotiations, which will inevitably take shape once the AIADMK leader officially withdraws support to this government, will decide which leader will emerge as the consensus choice for the next government.

In the event such an alternative government is able to prove its majority, added Surjeet, the Left Front hopes they will "learn from the terrible mistakes made by previous coalition governments."

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