A day after Congress President Sonia Gandhi asked her lieutenants to plan for the Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M) also positioned itself for the final assault: its Politburo formally announced that the party's support to the UPA government would be withdrawn if it went ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Besides, the Politburo also asked the CPI(M)'s state units to start working on alliances with regional parties.
After hours of formal and backroom consultations on the nuclear deal, the CPI(M) has realised that the Congress leadership, especially Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is not in a mood to succumb to its pressure.
As signals come that the Congress is eager to shake hands with the Samajwadi Party and dump the Left to save the deal, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat today prevailed upon the Politburo to take the extreme step.
"In case the government decides to go ahead with such a harmful agreement, which has no majority support in Parliament, the CPI(M) will withdraw support to the UPA government in concert with the Left parties," Karat read out the Politburo resolution. The Politburo had been authorised by its central committee to take the final call on this issue.
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Karat refused to entertain any question and left it unclear if he would allow a minority UPA government to run. His colleagues, however, privately claimed that the Left would vote against the government once support was withdrawn.
Party leaders from West Bengal, perceived to be uncomfortable with early elections, too evaded direct questions about poll preparedness.
While Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said that he "can't hear questions from the press", state general secretary Biman Bose said, "Can't say anything now. The Left Front will meet on June 30 in Kolkata and we will be able to answer (about polls) if the situation arises."
A perturbed CPI(M) also pinned the PM for this impasse. "At a time when the government should be gearing up to take comprehensive steps to tackle inflation, the PM and the Congress leadership are more concerned about fulfilling their commitment made to President Bush to operationalise the nuclear deal," the Politburo said.
In a clear signal that the CPI(M), during the poll run-up, will blame the Congress for encouraging "communalism", the Politburo added, "The UPA was formed to keep the communal forces at bay. By taking such a step, and the political consequences thereafter, that purpose will be undermined."
"The Manmohan Singh government has abjectly failed to tackle inflation. The price rise of essential commodities imposes a crushing burden on the people. The Congress-led government callously refuses to take urgent steps necessary to curb price rise and provide relief to the people," it said.