CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat has denied having told eminent British Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm that his party is expected to do "very badly" in West Bengal in the assembly elections next year.

Continuing his tirade against the ruling UPA coalition, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat today appealed to party leaders and workers to oppose the "anti-people" policies of the Centre.

The CPI-M on Saturday asked Home Minister P Chidambaram not to make "irrelevant feints" against it on the Maoist issue but take initiative to sort out the "glaring contradiction" within the Union Cabinet on it.

Criticising the Manmohan Singh government, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat on Tuesday blamed it for price rise and growing unemployment.

In the wake of CPI-M Central Committee's decision to remove Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan from the politburo, party General Secretary Prakash Karat on Saturday accused him of having violated party discipline and said indiscipline will not be tolerated at any level.

The CPI-M Politburo on Saturday met in New Delhi to find an end to the "disunity" in its Kerala unit and the open turf war between its top leaders.

CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat said that the party's decision to withdraw support to the UPA government on the issue of Indo-US Nuclear deal was correct.

Stung by the Left parties' drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala and West Bengal, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat on Saturday said his party was critically analysing the reasons for it.

Even after its drubbing in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M) today said the Left parties would continue to resist any move by the UPA government to implement fresh economic reforms.

The electoral drubbing notwithstanding, Prakash Karat will continue as general secretary of CPI(M) whose Polit Bureau met here today and reviewed its worst electoral performance since its inception in 1964.

The CPI-M on Saturday ticked off comment on the demand by its expelled member and Speaker Somnath Chatterjee that its General Secretary Prakash Karat own up responsibility for the electoral debacle of the party in Lok Sabha election and consider quitting.

CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat went on record saying, "The important thing for us is to decide whether we should join a government--that is the major thing for us. We have not done that so far. We discuss after elections whether we should participate in or join a government."

The CPI-M, a Third Front ally, on Sunday night said the front would gain in further strength after the results of Lok Sabha elections on May 16 with the joining of more non-Congress secular parties.

CPI(M) today appeared to soften its stand of not supporting a Congress-led government, with the party general secretary Prakash Karat saying it would take a decision after election results are out.

Third Front was "well-poised" to defeat Congress and BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat claimed today and said BJD chief Naveen Patnaik would play an important role in government formation at the Centre.

"If you think that the Left will bail you out, you are living in your own dream world," CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat told Congress, while addressing an election rally in support of party candidate P R Natarajan, contesting from the Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat.

CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat expressed confidence that the "secular combine" of the Third Front would form next government at the Centre, as the people were looking for a political change.

Apparently taking a dig at Manmohan Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member, CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat has said that post-elections the Left parties will back a Lok Sabha member for the post of Prime Minister.

The Left parties will not be averse to taking Congress support from outside to a Third Front government, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said today.

CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat Wednesday said that he could consider accepting the post of Prime Minister under "inevitable circumstances", even as he categorically ruled supporting the Congress in forming the next government.

In a reversal of roles, the CPI-M on Wednesday did not rule out taking Congress help in the formation of an alternative secular government after the Lok Sabha elections.

The CPI-M chief blamed the UPA government for failing to curb the ongoing economic crisis and said that the alternative front, being put together, will follow pro-people policies and work for social justice.

Launching the 'third force', the Left and major regional parties Thursday joined hands to take on the Congress and the BJP in the upcoming general elections, saying both of them had failed to address people's grievances.

The CPI-M on Saturday finalised its strategy aiming at installing non-Congress and non-BJP government at the Centre after Lok Sabha elections and said it would ask "secular" allies of NDA and "anti-privatisation" constituents of UPA to help forge a third alternative.

Opposing the grant of a contract to an Israeli firm for supply of missile defence systems, the Left parties have asked the government to cancel the Rs 10,000 crore deal and not "subvert" India's own missile programme which was superior.