By IANS,
New Delhi : United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leaders Thursday wooed the Left to form a government after the Lok Sabha elections but Marxist leader Prakash Karat declared that his party would not prop up the Congress again.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan said they were open to taking support from the Left, which gave crucial backing to the outgoing Congress-led UPA government until July last year.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar spoke on similar lines, saying he did not consider the Left parties untouchables.
Lalu Prasad said in Patna: “Secular forces should be united to form the government.” He was confident that if the UPA fell short of a majority in the 545-seat Lok Sabha, “we have kept open a window for the Left”.
Paswan said in his constituency Hajipur, also in Bihar: “We want the Left to come with the secular parties.”
In Baramati in Maharashtra, where he cast his vote Thursday, Pawar said he was open to doing business with the Left again.
Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), however insisted that his party would not help the Congress to get back to power, come what may.
“No government is possible with the Congress. They should realise that,” the CPI-M leader told Times Now TV.
Although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hinted three days ago that there could be a tie-up with the Left after the elections, Karat said the Left would prefer to sit in opposition rather than back a Congress government.