The Hindu : National : “We don’t project individuals for PM’s post”

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“We don’t project individuals for PM’s post”

Karat hopeful of presenting some third force in the coming Lok Sabha election

Thiruvananthapuram: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has said it does not look at in terms of projecting an individual for the prime minister’s post, an indication that it was not keen on seeing BSP chief Mayawati in the top post.

“He [CPI general secretary A B Bardhan] was asked, do you think she [Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati] can become PM. He said, ‘Yes why not.’ That is his way of saying that he has no objection to any particular leader becoming PM. We don’t look at in terms of projecting an individual,” CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said.

Asked if he was saying that Ms. Mayawati would not not be projected as Prime Minister, he told Malayalam channel “Kairali TV” he was not ready to say anything as “it is too premature.”

“In this country there have been PMs who people never expected could become prime ministers. And there have been prime ministers who people could not not think of as PM turned out to be good prime ministerial material. So why this debate? It is not a meaningful debate,” he said.

On the issue of a third alternative, Mr. Karat said hopefully they would be able to present some third force in the coming Lok Sabha election.

“Be very clear. I didn’t use the word third alternative. I have not talked about the third alternative. Our party’s understanding of the third alternative is not some combination to fight elections. The third alternative has to be in terms of policies and programmes,” he said.

Asked about supporting the Congress after the elections in forming a government, he said: “we are going to call the defeat of the BJP and the Congress. And after that if we support the Congress, I don’t know, I think people accuse us of opportunism. So why do you think that there can be only either a BJP-led government or a Congress-led government?”

Mr. Karat said even when the Left supported the government they knew the Congress was wedded to liberalisation policies. But the Left could check privatisation in some sectors while it could not tolerate serious deviation from the Common Minimum Programme on an issue like the strategic alliance with the United States.

“We made a mistake”

To a question whether it was a mistake to have supported the Congress, he said: “we made a mistake in believing the commitment of the top leadership of the country, including the Prime Minister. We have to see whether we can put faith in the Congress leadership again.”

On the charge that the CPI(M) had once dubbed the BSP as a casteist formation, Mr. Karat said all parties, except the Left, had played the caste card. “But the assertion of dalit forces is a democratic and an awakening aspect which we must recognise.”

Asked why he always refrained from making critical comments against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said they had always criticised the Congress leadership as well as the Prime Minister.

“The Prime Minister, of course, is running the government. Leadership cannot be reduced to one individual and is collective.” — PTI

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