Following the CPI(M)’s call, the CPI too has urged for a non-Congress and non-BJP third alternative in an institutionalised form while also indicating the inevitability of supporting the Congress.

Releasing its draft political resolution on Wednesday for the party congress to be held in Hyderabad in March, the CPI also hit out at the CPM in West Bengal, saying the “Left Front Government has to function as a Government of the Front and not as a one-party Government”. On the need for a third alternative in an institutionalised form to counter both the BJP and Congress, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan said the party would continue interaction with parties which have formed the UNPA “so that they join in the common struggle for evolving a programme-based alternative and not just an electoral grouping”.

This alternative, he said, should not just be secular but also have pro-people economic policies and a common programme with the Left. “We differentiate between the Congress and BJP, though both have the same class, character and economic policies. While the BJP is out and out communal, the Congress sometimes compromises with communal forces for short-term political gains.” He said it was the Congress-led UPA’s economic policies, which were responsible for the recent upswing in the BJP’s electoral performance. But the draft political resolution gives subtle hints that for the time being any political alignment to keep away the BJP has to have the Congress.

“It is possible that there will be a transitional secular democratic phase arising from the defeat of the communal BJP’s bid for power. What attitude the party will take in such transitional period depends on the prevailing situation,” the draft says. Bardhan also hit out at the CPI(M)’s domineering ways in West Bengal. “The Left Front Government has to function as a Government of the Front and not as a one-party government... there has to be transparency, mutual consultation on major issues, including the state’s development,” he said.

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