We are against backdoor PMs: Prakash Karat

In an indirect reference to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat said Sunday that Left parties will work towards making a Lok Sabha member the country’s next prime minister.

The CPI-M leader said that the right candidate for the post of prime minister will be decided once the Third Front is in a position to form the next government, and if that happens Karat wants the Congress to support them in the similar way the Left supported the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2004.

Karat told a news channel that they have seen “Rajya Sabha members becoming prime ministers” but this time they will work towards “making a Lok Sabha leader the country’s next prime minister.”

Karat pointed out that there is no prime ministerial candidate from the Left parties at present and even a Third Front candidate would be decided once poll results are out.
The Congress, however, has cleared that Manmohan Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, is its prime ministerial candidate for this elections.