The Left Front on Tuesday claimed that the Congress had become 'jittery' and said they were striving only for a non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party alternative coalition at the Centre.

While the Communist Party of India said that the Congress had become 'jittery' as it may not get the required numbers to form the government, the Communist Party of India - Marxist said the combination which would form a government at the Centre would be decided only after the elections.

"This is not the time to speculate about what will happen after the elections. In 1996, 1998, 2004 and in 2009 as well, the combination that will form government will only be forged after the elections," CPI-M [Images] leader Sitaram Yechury [Images] told PTI.

He said as far as the Left is concerned, "we are working for a non-Congress, non-BJP secular alternative combination to provide a government that will initiate a shift in the country's policy trajectory in favour of the people".

Maintaining that the Congress was 'jittery' as it would not get the required numbers to form the government, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said, "They are nervous about it."

"I don't think the Left will oblige them this time...We are not going to support a Congress government or a Congress-led government," he said.

CPI leader D Raja termed the attempts by Gandhi to woo the Left parties as 'an admission of their defeat' in the elections, which he said would throw up a non-Congress,
non-BJP alternative coalition.

"This is an admission that the Congress is losing. It is an admission of their own defeat," Raja said, adding that he was confident that the Left efforts to make a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative come to power at the Centre would succeed.

Maintaining that the Left had supported a Congress-led coalition for four-and-a-half years to prevent the BJP from coming to power, he said, "The Congress was responsible (for the break up with the Left)... It betrayed the trust of the Left and therefore of the entire nation."

Raja said the Left parties had 'serious differences' with the Congress on several issues and the Indo-US nuclear deal was 'only one of them'.

"It does not seem at all that the Congress is doing any introspection as to why this relationship (with the Left) was destroyed. It continues to pursue the same neo-liberal policies," he said.

At a press conference, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi [Images] had recently stated that the Congress and the Left had common ground on several issues and exuded confidence that the Communists could support a Congress-led government.