Left, BSP in 10-party nation-wide campaign against nuclear deal

23 July 2008

Undeterred by their defeat in Parliament, leaders of 10 parties, including the Left and BSP, have allied to launch a nation-wide campaign against Indo-US nuclear deal, price rise and agrarian crisis in a bid to emerge as a 'third front'.

The 10 party grouping, apart from the CPI (M) and BSP includes TDP, CPI, Forward Bloc, RSP, JD(S), RLD, INLD and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM), whose leaders gathered for a breakfast meeting hosted by the UP chief minister and BSP leader at her residence in New Delhi.

The breakfast meeting was also attended by A B Bardhan and D Raja (CPI), Debabrata Biswas (FB), T J Chandrachoodan and Abani Roy (RSP), K Yerrannaidu (TDP), Ajay Chautala (INLD), Babulal Marandi (JVM) and Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M).

"The UPA government may have won the vote in Lok Sabha yesterday, but has lost the trust of the nation due to the immoral manner in which it engineered its win," Mayawati told a press conference in New Delhi today after leaders of these parties said they had worked out a fresh political realignment. She said the way in which the UPA gathered votes for its victory in the vote of confidence yesterday shows that democracy has been "defeated and murdered".

Evading a direct reply when asked who would head the new group, Mayawati said all were equal.

Announcing a nation-wide joint campaign, CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said that though the government had won the confidence motion, it had "lost the trust of the nation".