President asks Deve Gowda to prove majority by April 11

George Iype in New Delhi

The Left parties, partners in the United Front government, will try hard to fortify the coalition before April 11 when Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda seeks a vote of confidence in Parliament.

Senior Left leaders, who have so far spurned the Congress demand to play a neutral role in the power game, said they are optimistic of saving the UF government.

Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet blamed the Congress for creating a crisis when Parliament is yet to pass this year's Budget and the crucial bilateral talks between India and Pakistan were on.

''We will consolidate the UF and not allow the Congress to pull down the government,'' Surjeet told Rediff On The NeT, predicting that Sitaram Kesri's ''opportunistic move'' may only result in a split in the Congress party.

''The Congress decision to withdraw support to the Deve Gowda government will boomerang on him,'' Surjeet said, adding that the Left parties will not desert the UF coalition.

The CPI-M and the Communist Party of India hold the key to the UF government's survival when Deve Gowda seeks a majority vote in the Lok Sabha in eleven days's time.

Surjeet, Somnath Chatterjee, the CPI-M's leader in the Lok Sabha, and CPI general secretary A B Bardhan will act as crisis managers to keep the UF together.

Surjeet, who played a key role in forming the UF government last year, held a series of meetings on Monday with leaders of other UF constituents like Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham leader M Karunanidhi, Tamil Maanila Congress leader G K Moopanar and Telugu Desam Party leader Nara Chandrababu Naidu in the capital.

The Left parties fear that the Congress decision could force President Shankar Dayal Sharma to invite the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a government if Kesri fails in his attempt to prove a majority in Parliament.

Left leaders have been unhappy with some of the political and policy initiatives of Deve Gowda and his ministerial colleagues. The Communists feel that the Congress action will help them increase their bargaining power at the Centre.

The Left leaders, who include two Cabinet ministers -- Indrajit Gupta and Chaturanan Mishra -- have time and again complained that the thrust of the economic reforms programme being pursued by Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidamabaram lacked the spirit of the Common Minimum Programme.

"The UF government has been insensitive to our concerns all these months. Now is the time for us to force Deve Gowda to be more amenable to our demands,"' one CPI leader remarked.

Earlier, the President requested Prime Minister Deve Gowda to seek a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha by April 7. However, Deve Gowda sought an extension in view of the nonaligned foreign ministers conference scheduled to begin in Delhi on April 7 and the Hindu new year's day which is being observed on April 8 and 9.

The President agreed to postpone the deadline from April 7 to 11 after Deve Gowda met him for about 30 minutes at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday.

The Lok Sabha was originally scheduled to meet on April 21 after a month- long recess to conclude the Budget session.

Now the prime minister will be required to request Speaker Purno A Sangma to convene the House earlier than scheduled to enable him to see a vote of confidence in his council of ministers.

After the first phase of the Budget session the Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha on March 21 to enable the standing committees to scrutinise the budget proposals of various ministeries and departments.

The President reportedly consulted various constitutional experts on the steps to be taken after the Congress president submitted a memorandum listing reasons for withdrawal of support to the UF government.