Congress won't succeed in forming UPA-like alliance to counter BJP, they have no credibility, says CPM

New Delhi: The Congress won’t succeed with another UPA experiment as it has lost all credibility and the best way to defeat the BJP in the next Lok Sabha election will be to pool in all anti-BJP votes statewise, the CPM has said. [caption id=“attachment_4388907” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “The Congress hopes to build an extended UPA style alliance to counter the BJP,” said an editorial in the CPI-M journal “People’s Democracy” following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s defeat in two Lok Sabha by-elections in Uttar Pradesh. “However, this will not succeed. The Congress has no credibility to lead such an alliance in terms of an alternative programme. “There are many regional parties like the BJD in Odisha, the TRS in Telangana and the TDP in Andhra Pradesh who will not accept to be a partner in an alliance with the Congress,” it said. “There are other parties who are chary of accepting the Congress as the leader of the alliance,” the CPM added, naming itself as one of them. Similarly, any effort to build a non-BJP, non-Congress “Federal Front” mooted by Telangana Chief Minister KC Rao was also bound to fail, the editorial warned. “Some regional parties like DMK and RJD are with Congress in their respective states. Further, there are many contradictions amongst the regional parties in terms of policies and regional interests which will prevent all the regional parties (from) coming together. “So, the most effective electoral tactics to defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha election will be to ensure pooling of anti-BJP votes state-wise. This is what happened in the Uttar Pradesh by-elections.” The CPM said the BJP’s defeat in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha by-elections would have significant implications for the future. “The by-election provides important lessons for the future in terms of election tactics to defeat the BJP. If the BJP loses the bulk of the seats in UP, it cannot come anywhere near a majority in the Lok Sabha.”