5 Apr : After the elections, the Third Front will come to power and formulate a new economic and independent foreign policy, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said on Sunday.
"We face questions from some quarters that whether BJP would be benefited by CPI(M)’s withdrawal of support from UPA government. But we know that BJP has nothing to benefit from it. This time people would present a new government led by the Third Front which will formulate new economic and independent foreign policy," Karat said, addressing a public meeting.
There was no difference between Congress and BJP so far economic policy is concerned as both supported liberalisation of the economy, he said.For the first time, the possibility of forming a secular government minus BJP and Congress is brightening and "we are determined to defeat both", Karat said.
The Marxist leader said, "two days before the election was declared, the government signed a Rs 10,000-crore defence deal with Israel for which six per cent commission was given and CPI(M) demanded a CBI inquiry into this."
Karat alleged that after the Left parties withdrew support from the UPA government, they "bought" support in Parliament with crores of rupees.The UPA did not pass the women’s bill in Parliament to appease the SP which supported it in trust vote, he alleged.
Due to pressure from the Left parties to abide by the Common Minimum Programme, he claimed, India did not face the economic crisis much despite global meltdown.
"The UPA wanted to sell 74 per cent share of banks to America and invest pensioners’ money in the share market, but the Left parties resisted the move for which effects of global meltdown was not so severe in the country," he said.