CPM in a fix, waits for signals from SP, BSP

The Trinamool Congress's decision to bring in a no-confidence motion against the UPA has put the CPM in a tight spot. It is left with two choices — play second-fiddle to Mamata Banerjee and vote against the government, opening the prospect of an early general election which it desperately wants to avoid, or support the UPA which, it has already said, has lost the mandate to govern.

Abstaining from the vote or walking out could be politically damaging as Mamata would use the opportunity to allege that the CPM is hand-in-glove with the Congress. The CPM is now waiting for signals from the SP and BSP, the two parties which support the UPA from outside. "If the SP and BSP do not vote against the government, the UPA will survive," said CPM leader Sitaram Yechury.

The CPM is conscious of the fact that a victory to the UPA will be projected by the government as an endorsement of its policies, including the ones the Left has been opposing, by Parliament. "We don't want to give the government a reprieve... we don't want to give a clean chit to the government," he said.

Yechury said "the party will take a call when the situation arises", and that the CPM is "not ruling out" anything.

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