Indicating further closeness with the Mayawati-led party, the Communist Party of India-Marxist has asked its cadre to vote for "non-Congress secular parties like Bahujan Samaj Party" in the coming state elections where the party and the CPI are not contesting.
In its assessment of the current political situation prevailing in the country, the CPI-M told its cadre to work for ousting The Bharatiya Janata Party from power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh while keeping the Congress at bay.
"Apart from seats where we or CPI are contesting, we should vote for non-Congress secular parties like the BSP," the Report on Political Developments adopted by the CPI-M central committee said.
Interestingly, the CPI-M had earlier dubbed the BSP as a 'casteist' formation in the political resolution adopted at the XIX party congress held in Coimbatore.
"The BSP has emerged as a strengthened force after the elections in Uttar Pradesh. It has used its base among the Dalits to build a wider coalition of caste politics. This sort of caste based political mobilisation is sought to be introduced in other states by the BSP," the resolution had said. However, the CPI-M resolution at the congress was of the view that BSP will be an "important factor" in states like Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, which are going to polls next month, though it will not ally with any other party for elections.
Though the Report on Political Developments did not hazard a guess on the prospects of BJP in poll-bound states where they are ruling, the party said, it is "widely expected" that the Congress government in Delhi will be ousted from power.
Noting that the BJP is striving its 'utmost' to retain power in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan, the CPI-M said, "in these states, we should call for the defeat of the BJP and the ouster of their governments and also oppose the policies of the Congress....In Delhi, we should oppose both the Congress and the BJP," it said.
The report said the BJP was actively wooing some of the regional parties ahead of the elections and the Asom Gana Parishad and Indian National Lok Dal, which were part of the erstwhile United National Progressive Alliance, has already aligned with the saffron party.
"In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the BJP has so far not succeeded in getting any ally with significant support," it said. The report also noted that the image of the UPA government and Congress has "further eroded" in the recent times. The CPI-M said the United Progressive Alliance's handling of the Amarnath land row, terror attacks, rising communal violence and "insensitivity towards minorities, failure to tackle price rise and complete preoccupation with the nuclear deal has dented the image of the Central government."
The CPI-M said the Congress which is hailing the nuclear deal as a historic achievement will make it a "major plank" in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. "This has to be countered by a big campaign exposing the surrender to the US and the harmful consequences of implementing such a deal," the report said. The party said soon after the trust vote, the Congress has been taking steps to gear up the party machinery for facing the impending Lok Sabha elections
