After UPA, Amar Singh takes on Left
Barkha Dutt
Tuesday, June 24, 2008, (New Delhi)
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh has words of warning for the Left parties too, after he gave an exclusive interview to NDTV on Monday.
Taking strong objection to a statement made by CPM Politburo leader MK Pandhe asking his party to keep the Muslim vote in mind while considering its position on the nuclear deal, Amar Singh said the Left was keeping the UPA government alive.
They should remember that actions speak louder than words, he said.
In a statement given to NDTV over the telephone from the United States, Amar Singh said, "It is very unfortunate that a member of the CPM has issued a statement regarding minority vote bank of SP, in case of SP-Congress bonhomie."
"While SP-Cong bonhomie is a matter of kite-flying, as yet his own party and the entire Left, including his own party, the CPM is solely and actively responsible for the formation and the very existence of the UPA government, he added.
The SP leader said that the UPA-Left Co-ordination Committee might have become defunct but a formal link and association between the two setups was very much alive.
Singh said: Even during the crisis, Prakash Karat had said that the government would last its full term. Does that mean that the minority vote bank of the Left has totally vanished? I don't think so.
The veteran leader said that his party had always fought with communal forces in the communal courtyard of aggressive Hindutva in Uttar Pradesh. The Left does not have such serious political threat from the Saffron brigade in their respective states like Kerala, Bengal and Tripura.
"So, I can appreciate the lack of knowledge of Pandhe regarding our secular credentials. Actions speak louder than words. We will be happy if we get certificate from Left, but will not be shattered if it is not forthcoming," Amar Singh added.
After the Samajwadi Party's angry response to his remarks, CPM leader MK Pandhe said that he never intended to communalise the issue and that he was all for Left-SP unity.