Mayawati fit for PM's post, says Bardhan

The Communist Party of India expressed confidence that the ten-party grouping consisting of the Left, Bahujan Samaj Party and the United Nationalist Progressive Alliance may soon emerge as "a real alternative" to the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan said.

The emergence of such a bloc would be a big blow to leading parties like Congress and BJP, which want to polarise the polity into a two-party system.

"The ten parties have rallied on a common platform on the issues of the nuclear deal, price rise and government turning institutions into political tools. The future of the combination, I think, is optimistic. It can grow into a real alternative," Bardhan told media-persons in Delhi.

Bardhan also appealed to secular parties who are with Congress or the BJP to "re-think and reconsider their relationship with these parties and join the combination which is coming up".

He said the Left parties, BSP and UNPA coming together was a "very positive" development. "These are the political and social forces which can emerge as a potential force to challenge the bipolarity in our polity," the CPI leader added.

Asked whether Mayawati will be the leader of the emerging coalition, Bardhan said the party which have the "biggest numbers" will be the leader of the alliance.

"Once it is formed, we will have a leader. We will have a natural leader. The biggest party will have a claim for the leadership. The issue will be decided naturally," Bardhan said.

On Mayawati as the prime ministerial candidate, he said the BSP chief is a "fit candidate" for the post than "those who are pretending to be Prime Ministers-in-waiting."