By IANS,
New Delhi : Coming down heavily on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his statement that the Third Front was helping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by dividing the secular votes, the conglomerate Saturday said the prime minister’s “outburst” reflected the Congress’ “desperation”.
“Both the Congress and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) are desperate now. Manmohan Singh’s outburst against the Left parties and the Third Front reveals their desperation. Both the parties have started targeting us,” said Communist Party of India (CPI) national secretary Shameem Faizee.
Manmohan Singh Friday told women journalists here that the Left parties and its Third Front allies were “unwittingly” helping the BJP.
CPI-M leader M.K. Pandhe said the Congress had “joined hands with the BJP inside and outside parliament on important issues, especially on liberalisation policies”.
“We never helped the BJP. The BJP could not win a single seat in the Left-ruled states like West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura because of the strong stand taken by the Left parties. He (Singh) and his party (Congress) are helping the BJP,” Pandhe told IANS.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which has been hobnobbing with the Left and Third Front, reacted cautiously. NCP general secretary D.P. Tripathi said: “Our party believes in the first front of all secular parties in India. We consider the parties in the Third Front as fraternal parties although we are in the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) and with the UPA.”
Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), a part of the Third Front, hit out at the Congress. JD-S leader Danish Ali said: “The Congress has always betrayed the minorities and secular voters of the country.”
“It is not the monopoly of the Congress to get the secular votes and the Congress has always betrayed the confidence of minorities and secular voters of the country,” Ali said.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has teamed up with the NCP and Left in Orissa, denied it was helping the BJP. “We are not helping the BJP,” BJD leader Brahmananda Panda said.