After the almost daily refrain of general secretary Prakash Karat that the CPM would not,in any circumstances,support a Congress-led government,his party today attempted some course-correction via West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in a bid to keep its options open vis a vis the Congress. With the Third Front already cracking the TRS joined the NDA yesterday and hinted there were others waiting and aware that the party is on a weaker electoral wicket this time around,the CPM tried to tone down Karats stridency by distinguishing between a pre-poll and a post-poll strategy. And raising questions about the durability of the Congress-Mamata alliance. The pre-election position of our party is very clear. At this moment,we are talking of a non-BJP,non-Congress government. But let elections be over,then we will take a decision. Everything will depend on numbers. Let the results be announced. It will become clear who is going to support whom. We cant tell anything more than this at this moment, said Bhattacharjee. He said the CPM Politburo would meet on May 18 in New Delhi to be followed by the Central Committee meeting where a final decision on support would be taken. These remarks come just two days after Karat visited Kolkata but avoided answering questions after a prepared speech on the need and future of a Third Front government. Bhattacharjees stand,incidentally,echoes what his Politburo colleague Sitaram Yechury said in Kolkata last week: Until May 16,our policy is a non-Congress,non-BJP government at the Centre. After May 16,the issue will be discussed once again and a final decision taken. In fact,the issue of CPM support to the next government came up at least thrice during the press conference today and the toning down of the Karat line was clear. Asked if there was a difference in the line adopted by the partys leaders in Delhi and West Bengal,Bhattacharjee said: Again,I am repeating,we are trying to defeat both the Congress and the BJP. At this stage,I do not want to send a wrong message. We are sincerely trying to form a Third Front government. When pointed out that Karat has said that the CPM would rather sit in the opposition than support a Congress government,Bhattacharjee replied: Do not misunderstand our General Secretary. I do not think Prakash has said that. He talked about the pre-election position of our party. There is no such thing called the India line or the Bengal line. We belong to the same party. He is our leader. We follow the same line. We do not want to send any wrong message at this stage that might confuse the people. Ironically,these remarks were also meant to confuse Trinamool-Congress voters before the last phase in 11 seats in the state on May 13. The CPMs own assessment is that the Trinamool is likely to do well in these 11 predominantly urban seats in Kolkata and adjoining areas,of which 10 are held by the Left now. It wasnt a surprise,therefore,that Bhattacharjee said the Congress alliance with Trinamools Mamata Banerjee wasnt exactly etched in stone. Not once has she spoken against L K Advani and not once has Advani spoken against her, he said. When told that the CPM had sent feelers to the Janata Dal (U) to be part of the Third Front but that didnt happen and now JD(U)s Nitish Kumar had shared the stage with BJPs Narendra Modi,Bhattacharjee said: I never contacted Nitish Kumar. I only said that we are in touch with the JD(U). Yechury was in touch with Sharad Pawar and the JD(U). But finally Nitish Kumar joined the NDA. Let him be there. Trinamool leaders attacked what they called the CPMs ambiguity. Said TMC chief Mamata Banerjee: In the next government,there will be Congress and Trinamool,there will be no Left. The CPM will be out of it. The Congress-TMC alliance is going to be stable,steady and will continue until 2011. Saugata Roy,a senior TMC leader,said the CPMs message showed they would not like to sit idle in the Opposition and are,therefore,pulling all strings to have a say in the next government. Meanwhile,the CPM countered the swipe by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee that it would take 250 years for the Left to come to power at the Centre. Said CPM Politburo member M K Pandhe: We did not know Pranab Babu is an astrologer. How did he calculate 250 years? He can only speculate until May 16.He will be able to find out only then how many years it will take for them (Congress) to form a government.
