The Hindu : Front Page : Options open on tie-up with Left: Manmohan

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Options open on tie-up with Left: Manmohan

“We will cross the bridge when we come to it. As of now, I am confident the Congress will be able to form the government”

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday appeared to be keeping the Congress’ options open for a tie-up with the Left parties and other allies fighting his party in the post-poll scenario, saying he had had a good experience working with all of them.

However, he expressed confidence that the Congress would be able to form the government with its allies.

At an interaction with members of the Editors Guild of India here, he was asked whether the Congress would take the support of the Left parties in forming the next government.

“We will cross the bridge when we come to it. As of now I am confident that the Congress would be able to form the government [with allies]. I have dealt with the Left parties, Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sharad Pawar.

“I have dealt with Jayalalithaa, DMK and PMK. I have also negotiated with Mufti Saheb [PDP leader]. I have enough experience in dealing with diverse forces,” he said.

Asked whether he would like doing business with the Left, Dr. Singh said, “well, I think circumstances will decide. But I was quite happy when as government we were dealing with the Left.”

Dr. Singh said the Left parties had strong views on the nuclear issue and they had to leave. “But it was a matter of great privilege [working with them].”

Asked whether the Congress would support the Left in forming the government as CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat had said the Communists would not support a Congress government, he said, “we will deal with this question after the election results are out. But the fact is the present arrangement has worked well.”

A questioner reminded him about his statement in November 2007 that if the nuclear deal did not go through, he would live with the disappointment and his recent statement that he would have resigned in such a case and asked him what made him put his government to risk.

The government had negotiated the deal with the U.S. for three years. It was also an issue that was being negotiated with countries such as Russia, China and seeking the support of all 45 members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, he said adding, “we had resolved all issues to India’s satisfaction.”

“If after all this I go and tell them ‘no, thank you’ we as a government would have looked foolish. People would have got an impression that it was a waste of time [of doing business with India]. India’s honour was at stake. It would have been disastrous. I thought this must be avoided. Asked about his experience with the dual power system in which he was Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi was UPA chairperson, Dr. Singh said it was satisfying.

“The Prime Minister under this could concentrate on managing successfully the problems of the country while she was handling the political problems. This division of labour is conducive and has led to greater efficiency to the advantage of the people,” he said.

Asked about his statement that Rahul Gandhi had all the qualifications to become Prime Minister, Dr. Singh said that “in my view, he has all the qualities to become Prime Minister. I stand by it.”

To a question why the allies have left the Congress and fighting the elections against it if the UPA government was a success, the Prime Minister said the Congress was working towards building its base in U.P., Bihar and other States where it was weak.

“As far as regional parties are concerned, the emergence of regional parties is a fact of life and we will have to show sufficient flexibility in dealing with them. New norms should be evolved to ensure incorporation of regional parties in governance so that there are no harmful effects,” he said.

In his opening remarks, the Prime Minister said India, which was battling terrorism, naxalism and big economic problems like poverty, needed a party with a national perspective to govern the country and deal with these problems firmly.

He also expressed concern over growing regionalism and visualised inter-State water disputes as a big problem in the 21st century. The States were fighting against each other on this issue and there was no proper mechanism to deal with this.

“If India is mired in regional problems we will not be able to realise the full development potential,” he said. — PTI

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