The Hindu : `Congress, SP overestimated their strength'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

`Congress, SP overestimated their strength'

Malabika Bhattacharya

KOLKATA

Had there been a proper understanding between all the secular parties in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP would have been reduced to a zero, says A.B. Bardhan, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Addressing a meet-the-press programme here, Mr. Bardhan said that a total understanding among political parties outside the National Democratic Alliance could not happen mainly because some of them, like the Congress Party and the Samajwadi Party (SP) had over-estimated their strength.

According to him, the Samajwadi Party's performance in the coming Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha would be good. He claimed that if the secular parties had come together before the election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would have been completely routed in U.P.

He said that the Congress had not shown any interest in reaching an understanding with any secular party before the Assembly elections in four States last year. "[The] Congress thought it would come back but everyone saw the election results.'' The CPI leader said that as things now stand, the non-NDA parties had succeeded in bringing about the broadest possible understanding and adjustments among secular parties. This, he claimed, was good enough to defeat the BJP and the NDA.

Mr. Bardhan said that the obejctive was to install a secular government in office but evaded a direct reply to a question whether his party would participate in such a government. "We will address the issue only after the poll. The common minimum programme will be the deciding factor.'' He expected the Left parties to increase their presence and act as a motivating force for any Government to keep the country on a secular path.

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