PM woos Left, wants secular parties to keep NDA out of power

Apparently wooing the Left for support, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said all secular parties had an obligation to provide a "purposeful, secular" government at the centre and prevent the NDA from coming to power at "all cost".         

He said allies of the UPA, which were "unhappy", could be mollified but ruled out support to any government led by the Left parties arguing that they would not get more seats than the Congress.         

"I always believe that all secular forces have an obligation to work together to give the country a purposeful, secular government," Singh told a press conference when asked specifically about whether he would appeal to the Left to again support a UPA government.  

To a question whether the Indo-US civil nuclear deal could be a sticky issue on forging ties with the Left, he said, "I think it is not an issue now. It has been signed, sealed and operationalised. It cannot be an issue for dialogue.  "There is a wider purpose to give the country a purposeful, secular government for which all secular forces should vote together," he said.         

On the NDA rally here yesterday, Singh said "you heard (Gujarat Chief Minister) Narendra Modi's tone at the NDA rally yesterday. It indicates the kind of government they want to have. This must be avoided at all cost".