Left parties are co-passengers of BJP-driven vehicle: Moily

New Delhi, Jul 18 (UNI) In a clear indictment of the Left parties for readying themselves to vote with the BJP against the UPA government, the Congress today reminded the Red brigade that the saffron party ''is in the driver's seat and all others are only co-passengers''.

''The Left seems to have adopted a destructive role. They don't know the consequences of their role... They are playing a dangerous role,'' AICC General Secretary and party media incharge Veerappa Moily told mediapersons, while criticising CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat for deciding to vote against the government in the company of the ''communal BJP which had already declared that it would construct Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodya if it came to power again''.

He charged the Left parties with trying to ''give power to the BJP-led NDA'', and accused them of suffering from ''Stockholm syndrome''.

When a reporter pointed out that the Congress had voted with the BJP against the V P Singh and H D Deve Gowda governments, Mr Moily said on both the occasions it was the Congress which had moved the no-confidence motion against the government.

Asserting that the UPA government would sail through the July 22 trust vote, Mr Moily said the government would get the support of 280 plus members in the Lok Sabha with an effective strength of 542.

Replying to a question, he maintained that the UPA government was never a minority dispensation, even after the Left parties withdrew their outside support.

He said the people of the country were with the Congress. In this context, he referred to the huge turnout at a public meeting addressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh yesterday.

Mr Moily also denied as rumours the reports that some Congress MPs would defect to the rival camp and vote against the government.

He refuted the reports of horse-trading indulged in by the Congress to muster majority support to the government, and said, ''it is the rival camp which is trying to destabilise the government and democracy.'' Asked if the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha would support the government, Mr Moily said, ''the JMM is part and parcel of the ruling UPA coalition.'' Asked if JMM chief Shibu Soren would be sworn in as Cabinet minister even before the trust vote in the Lok Sabha, Mr Moily said it was the prerogative of the Prime Minister to induct or drop a minister.

''Is there any constitutional injunction against it?,'' he asked.

He also denied the report that the Lucknow airport was named after Ch Charan Singh in order to woo the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) into voting with the government, he said, ''he is a veteran leader who was a former Prime Minister.'' Meanwhile, AICC General Secretaries today held a meeting at the AICC headquarters to assess the political situation ahead of the July 22 trust vote.

Party sources said all the Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled states have been asked to be in the capital city by Sunday.

UNI SH SK RAI1857