On Board the Special Bharat Uday Yatra Bus: Charging Communists with being "undemocratic", Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today (Apr 11, 2004) said Leftists had no future in the country and ruled out any possibility of re-emergence of the 'Third Front'.

"There is no future for them (Communists). They are bound by dogma while in practice, (they) have abandoned Marxism," he said.

Elections 2004-The Drama unfolds...
Political Parties in India

Accusing them of gross misuse of Government machinery, Advani said, "The Communists have not even allowed the Party to remain democratic."

"No other party, not even the Congress, has misused Government machinery as systematically as the Leftists.

"They have forced officials, for decades, to virtually become party cadres and act only after getting the approval of the party," he alleged.

On re-emergence of the Third Front, Advani said, "There was no possibility anymore. For decades we had a single dominant party system but the 1984 elections, when BJP's (Bharatiya Janata Party) performance was the worst, became the turning point in India's contemporary political history."

"It started the decline of the Congress and the exemplary growth of BJP with 1989 elections bringing the first big lead for our party," he said.

"India has now evolved into a.... polar polity and unless Congress crumbles and ceases in be a principal pole. There is not going to be any relevance of the Third Front," he said.

Asked whether BJP had eaten into the vote bank traditionally held by Congress, the Deputy Prime Minister said, "It has taken place considerably but more because of good governance of the National Democratic alliance (NDA) Government and leadership provided by Vajpayee than due to failure of the Opposition party."

"The two parties have a similar base but BJP's reach has gradually and constantly grown over the years and even the sections that used to vote for Congress, are joining our fold," Advani, for whom making India a great power is the main driving force, said.

To whether he favoured bringing a bill in Parliament to disallow people of foreign origin from holding high Constitutional offices, Advani said, "I am not against it. However, lets see what NDA decides on the matter."