Will work for defeat of Cong in LS elections: Karat

Fed up with the nine years of UPA "misrule", Left parties will work for the defeat of Congress in the next Lok Sabha elections, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat said in New Delhi on Friday.

He also said there was no question of supporting BJP or a BJP prime minister -- Narendra Modi or anyone else.

"We have made our position clear. After nine years of UPA misrule...UPA and Congress should be defeated. We are not going to work for their return," Karat told reporters.

He was replying to a query if there was a possibility of the Left parties supporting Congress after the next Lok Sabha elections.

When asked to comment on Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, an arch rival of the Left, announcing that her party won't support Modi as a prime ministerial candidate, Karat said, "For us there is no question of supporting (Narendra) Modi or anyone else from the BJP. She would support someone else or...We are not supporting BJP or BJP prime minister."

On the possibility of a Third Front government at the Centre like in 1996, he said, "The situation is very different now. Let us see what happens."

Karat made the remark when asked about his statement that the Third front parties will be open to outside support from Congress to form the government after the 2014 elections but his party will not help BJP or Congress to come to power.

He also dismissed poll surveys projecting that the Left has lost further ground in West Bengal after losing the state to TMC.

Claiming that the "surveys were not in tune with ground reality", Karat said such thing can happen only if "rigging takes place" like the one which took place in the just concluded Panchayat elections in West Bengal.

"The results of such a rigged election can only be a distorted one," he said, replying to a query whether the Left is admitting defeat in the Panchayat elections even before the results are announced.

The just concluded Panchayat election is the first grassroot poll held in West Bengal after Trinamool Congress came to power in the state.