Left, regional parties' front to form next govt: CPI

Patna: Claiming that anti-Congress and anti-BJP mood is prevailing in the country, CPI today said an alternative front of Left and regional parties would form the next government at the Centre. “Left and regional parties will form a programme-based alternative front before or after the elections to serve the people of the country,” CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy told reporters here. [caption id=“attachment_1061689” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  This image of a Left rally has been used for representational purposes only. AFP. [/caption] Reddy, who was here along with former General Secretary A B Bardhan to take part in the state executive committee meeting of the party, said the party would contest 60-70 seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections. “The party has started identifying seats and candidates for fighting the parliamentary elections in states like Kerala, West Bengal, Tripura and Rajasthan where it has a larger base,” he said. “In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh we are keeping a watch over political developments and will take a decision on alliance at right time,” the CPI general secretary said. Bardhan claimed that Congress would not get more than 110 seats, while BJP despite “hue and cry” in the name of Narendra Modi would in no case cross 140-145 mark. “In this scenario, the Left and regional parties, opposed to Congress and BJP, hold tremendous scope to form the next government,” Bardhan said. He, however, refused to identify these regional parties. “Based on alternative policy and programme, the Left along with like-minded regional parties would form a new government after the general elections,” he said. Bardhan hailed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for snapping ties with BJP and said for this the lone CPI MLA voted for his government in the confidence motion in the state assembly on June 19. “From the beginning we have been saying that JD(U) is a secular party but was in wrong company of BJP…now that it has severed ties with BJP it has proved itself a pure secular party,” Bardhan said. Asked if an alliance with JD(U) is in the offing, he said “what is the hurry as the general election as well as assembly polls in Bihar are still far away.” In reply to a question on CPI’s stand if JD(U) goes with the Congress, he said, “I told you in the beginning itself that we’ll bring non-Congress and non-BJP regional parties together.” He said CPI would start the process of bringing together like-minded regional parties together after November-December when the assembly elections in five states would be over. Describing Narendra Modi as a “divisive force”, he said “the Gujarat model of development propagated by BJP to boost the image of the Gujarat chief minister is exaggeration and based on myth.” On Modi’s claim that more than 20-25 per cent of Muslims voted for him in Gujarat polls, he said, “It might not have been more than 5-10 per cent that also under duress to buy peace with the divisive force.” PTI