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Support for Congress will be decided after polls, says Surjeet

CPI-M general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet today refused to commit himself to support a Congress-led government at the Centre, saying the issue could be discussed only after the elections.

Talking to newspersons, he said his party did not have any alliance with the Congress in any part of the country, but was having some kind of seat adjustment only for the limited purpose of defeating the BJP. The question of left parties supporting a Congress-led government could be discussed only after the elections.

"I don't think any party is going to get a majority after the elections," he said, adding that his party stood for a third alternative which would emerge stronger after the elections.

On whether the Nationalist Congress Party and the Samajwadi Party would be in the proposed third front, Surjeet said, "Let us see what they will do after the elections. I can't say anything beyond that at this moment."

"Sharad Pawar did not utter a single word against the BJP when he quit the Congress. But now he had started talking against the BJP because he is fighting the elections against it," he added.

Asked to comment on Mulayam Singh Yadav's reported statement that he favoured a left-led government at the Centre, Surjeet said it would be very good for the country.

Referring to the reports quoting him as having said that he was optimistic of a Congress-led government coming to power after the elections, Surjeet said he had never mentioned anything like that at his news conference in Madras. Asked whether he campaigned for the Congress candidate in the Nagercoil Lok Sabha constituency, he said, ''I never sought votes for the Congress candidate there. I addressed a public meeting and spoke against the DMK-BJP alliance. The Congress candidate also came to the venue towards the end of the meeting.''

Insisting that the struggle against the Congress party would continue, Surjeet said since the country had witnessed the dangers posed by the communal BJP during the past 16 months, the left parties had decided to enter into seat adjustments with the Congress in some places.

He claimed that the left parties would improve their position in this elections. On the charge that the left parties had given party ticket to few women only, he said: ''We are in the forefront of demanding 33 per cent reservation for women. We will work for achieving that goal even after the elections.''

UNI

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