No single party can form govt, door open for Left: Lalu

RJD chief Lalu Prasad today said no single party would be able to form a government after the Lok Sabha polls and once again reached out to the Left, saying the door for them was always open.  

"The era of coalition governments is here to stay for long and we want the Left and secular forces to come together. The door for the Left is always open," he told a press conference here.  Asked to comment on CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury's statement that the Left was not averse to aligning with even the JD(U) after the polls, Lalu retorted, "do you (the media) think that the Left will join forces with the communal parties.

Nitish Kumar (Bihar chief minister) is sitting in the lap of communal BJP. The Left will never allow the communal forces to come to power." On AICC general secretary Gulam Nabi Azad's statement that it was a "big mistake" on the part of the Congress to have aligned with regional parties in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Lalu said, "RJD is a national party and all should know that. The Congress virtually has no existence in the two states."  

"The Congress should have tried to stand on its own legs in UP and Bihar much earlier. We apologise to the people for the big mistake. The party will not be left at the mercy of regional parties," Azad had said yesterday.

Asked who would be the Fourth Front's prime ministerial candidate if it managed to secure the support of other parties after the polls, Lalu said, "We will tell you when the time comes."      

On Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's prime ministerial ambitions, the Railway minister said it was not possible as long as he was with the saffron brigade.      

"Nitish got a case registered against me for my statement against Varun Gandhi," he alleged.      

On whether the Supreme Court's decision to order a probe by special investigation team into some cases of Gujarat riots and its trial within that state would adversely affect the trial, Lalu said "It is the Supreme Court's decision and nobody can question it. The apex court will ensure that the witnesses are not intimated and will closely monitor the trial."      

Lalu said after the apex court's order "it was only a matter of time that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was sent behind bars".