BSP's support withdrawal not to destabilise govt: Left

New Delhi, Jun 21 (UNI) The Left parties today maintained that the UPA leadership will have to explain as to why the Bahujan Samaj Party withdrew its support to the government, even as the fate of the ruling coalition will not be affected by the BSP's decision.

The Left parties' guarded reaction came after newspersons asked them about the political fallout of the BSP's decision, which has further pushed the ruling coalition to the wall.

The BSP, which has as many as 17 members in Parliament and whose relations with the UPA had hit a new low recently, today announced withdrawal of its support to the government saying the alliance had failed the people and the nation in whose interest it had extended support to it.

While CPI general secretary A B Bardhan told UNI from Bhubaneswar on telephone that the BSP's move did not affect the stability of the Centre, CPI(M) senior leader Nilotpal Basu told newspersons here that the government would have to explain why this had happened at a very critical juncture.

''The BSP's decision to withdraw its support will not endanger the government's longevity, as it did not depend on its support,'' said Mr Bardhan, veteran Communist and freedom fighter.

To a specific query, whether inflation touching 11.05 per cent, a 13-year high, coupled with Ms Mayawati's decision to withdraw support, had not weakened the UPA's keenness to execute the Nuclear Deal, the CPI leader said, ''If the government still did so, it will dig its own grave.'' Mr Basu told mediapersons at his party headquarters, A K Gopalan Bhawan, that he was not in a position to comment on Ms Mayawati's decision, as he did not know the exact reasons and conditions under which she did so.

''It is for the government to explain, as we cannot offer any explanation for a political decision of a political party,'' said Mr Basu, a former Rajya Sabha member and a key Party Central Committee member.

When asked whether the Congress was getting isolated on the issues of soaring inflation and the BSP's decision, the CPI(M) leader evaded a direct reply, saying, ''Earlier the media people have been telling us that we are getting isolated because of our positions on the economic and foreign affairs spheres.'' Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party general secretary D P Tripathi, who met CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and was closeted with him for about 40 minutes, discussed the current political scenario rising out of the standoff between the government and the Left parties over the N-Deal.

''We have been maintaining a consistent position that the Left should be taken on board,'' Mr Tripathi told newspersons.

CPI national secretary D Raja, in a telephonic conversation with DMK president M Karunanidhi in Chennai, explained to him the Left's viewpoint vis-a-vis the government's on the Nuclear pact.

''I will personally go to Chennai tomorrow to meet Mr Karunanidhi and discuss the whole issue,'' Mr Raja added.

Earlier in the day, CPI(M) came out with a strongly-worded statement, accusing the government of indulging in a misinformation campaign about the significance of the N-Deal to ensure energy security.

It debunked the government's argument that the nuclear energy is a solution to the shortage of electricity in the country and the oil price rise. ''This is nothing but a cover to promote strategic ties with the US, as it is difficult to promote them directly,'' it said.

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