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Left Backs Sangma As Pm To Head Cong-Led Coalition

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Gautam Gupta BSCAL
Last Updated : Feb 28 1998 | 12:00 AM IST

The Left parties would not mind extending external support to a Congress-led government headed by P A Sangma.

The Left leaders hope that a Congress government with the support from the United Front is a distinct possibility. They are resigned to the possibility of the Front finishing third after the BJP and the Congress. Hoping that the BJP will fall short of the required majority, they realise that Congress is no longer in the mood to extend support to any formation to form the government.

Thus, having considered about half a dozen Congress names, Left sources say party leaders have zeroed in on Sangma as the most suitable candidate for prime ministership. Of course, Sangma must first win the trust of the Congress Parliamentary Party.

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Despite having conducted a high-pitched poll campaign projecting Jyoti Basu as the next Prime Minister, Left leaders admit Basu missed the bus in 1996. The campaign, meant to play on the Bengali psyche, may win the CPM some more votes, but Basu stands little chance as the Front itself is not likely to form the government.

The Congress leaders short-listed include Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Arjun Singh, Manmohan Singh, Madhavrao Scindia and Sangma. Sonia is considered unaceptable for a number of reasons including her Italian origin, the Bofors controversy and also her political immaturity.

Pawar is not considered to have the national stature required to become a Prime Minister, while Arjun Singh is said to be unacceptable to the Left for his close links with 10, Janpath. The Left is almost allergic to Manmohan Singh for his economic policies, and is seen as one acting on the dictates of the International Monetary Fund. Singh, the reformer, may yet land up as the next finance minister, but would be opposed as the prime ministerial candidate, Left leaders say.

Scindia may have earned the reputation of being an able administrator, but his royal lineage goes against him as far as the Left is considered.

Sangma is on record saying that he would accept any responsibility. He has worked with both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, but has shown no inclination to prop up Sonia Gandhi as the partys leader. Sangma won praise from the Left leadership during his stint as the Union minister for labour, and later in the ministries of coal and information. His conduct as the Lok Sabha has further endeared him to opposition parties as he did not hesitate to pull up Congress MPs for misconduct.

Sangma, the left leaders believe, may not have the backing of many MPs, but he can well emerge as the compromise candidate. The United Front partners expect that their views in the choice of a prime minister will not be ignored by the Congress.

The Left does not relish the prospect of backing a Congress government. But, if the situation demands it, lending support to Sangma will cause it lesser embarrassment since he is a tribal from the north-east and a Christian, which fits well in the secular world-view of the Left parties.

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First Published: Feb 28 1998 | 12:00 AM IST

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