The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday described the plans by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to forge a third alternative as a "mirage".

The Left parties have neither the calibre nor capacity to form a third alternative though the CPI(M) had talked about it in its draft document released ahead of its party congress at Coimbatore, senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said.

The Left were afraid of losing public backing by continuing their support to the 'unpopular' Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, he said.

He said those who spoke about third alternative, including Mulayam Singh Yadav, lack credibility as they have shared power with the Congress or supported it.

Even the United National Progressive Alliance proved to be a failure as the AIADMK had distanced itself from it.
Naidu said the talk of an early election had receded now due to the setback suffered by the Congress in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and problems faced by Left following Nandigram [Images] incidents.

On alliance with the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, Naidu said he did not want to make any "premature" comments on the matter as it was the AIADMK to take a decision on the matter.

He described the meeting of Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi [Images] with Jayalalithaa as a courtesy call.

On the proposal to increase the prices of petroleum products, he said the government should find alternative ways to mobilize resources like restructuring tax to avoid price hike.