Sunday, March 5 2006 14:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Ahead of the Assembly polls in five states, there have been growing strains between the Congress and its supporting Left parties and the Samajwadi Party and the recent visit of US President George W Bush has only added to the problem.

Concern is growing among Congress circles over the way the Left has been hammering the ruling party as also the Government on the Iran issue as also the protests launched by them during the visit of Bush and the talk of formation of a Third Front.

Samajwadi Party's protests are being seen in a different light as the Allahabad High Court judgement in the case of defection of 40 BSP MLAs in Uttar Pradesh has brought the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government in a crisis situation.

Besides, there has been virtually no love lost between the SP and Congress for the last two years since Yadav spurned pre-poll offers of being part of the UPA and tie up with the then main opposition party.

With the IAEA Board meeting scheduled tomorrow (Mar 05 2006), the Left, upset over the Government earlier siding with US and against Iran, has already warned of serious consequences while the SP has threatened a no trust motion in Parliament.

Congress as also Government circles say that the Left and its allies are using a foreign policy issue for furthering their domestic politics to consolidate their position in their bastions.

There have been sizeable section of Muslims in West Bengal and Kerala as also in Assam, the three poll going states.

US President George Bush visit

The Bush visit had come against the backdrop of inflamed passions among a section of minorities on the Iran issue coupled with the Danish cartoon controversy.

This is perhaps for the first time that in independent India, foreign policy issues are gaining centrestage.

RJD, the second largest constituent of the UPA, had also protested against the visit in Parliament last week when the Left parties and the SP MPs had raised the issue which had witnessed a strident attack on the US President and Washington's actions in Iraq.

Mayawati-led BSP, which is attempting to break the minority vote bank of the SP in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Assembly polls scheduled next year, had also attacked the American President's visit.

TDP, which has broken ties with the BJP after the defeat in the Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, has now become supportive of the cause of the Third Front apparently to win back minorities.

In fact, almost all non-Congress and non-BJP parties had virtually made a common cause on the visit.

The Iran issue, the toon controversy and the Bush visit have together proved a deadly mix for the ruling dispensation which is not amused by the tactics of the Left.

Congress leaders feel the situation appeared to be worse than that of last year when the BHEL disinvestment issue had sparked off the first major rupture between the Congress and the key outside supporters.