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Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008
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Division of secular votes will help BJP: Congress

Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday indicated that the proposed strategy of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to forge a political alternative without the Congress would lead to the division of secular votes.

“The division of secular votes has led communal forces and the Bhartiya Janata Party to come to power. It will be the Congress party’s endeavour to see that all secular forces stay together and that this does not happen again,” said AICC spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan here.

She was reacting to the CPI(M) plan of forging a non-Congress, non-BJP “third alternative” for joint action on common issues.

Claiming that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had performed “magnificently” in fulfilling the commitments in the National Common Minimum Programme, Ms. Natarajan said that should be the only yardstick on which the Congress-CPI(M) relations should be judged.

“There is a UPA coordination committee to discuss the differences of opinion. That arrangement is working well,” she said.

Asked whether the secular alliance would include the Samajwadi Party, Ms. Natarajan said that would depend on the decision taken at the highest level in the party and on the “ground realities” in each State.

On the differences with the Left parties on the India-U.S. Nuclear Agreement, she said the joint mechanism was in place and expressed the hope that it would succeed in removing the road blocks.

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