"The fall of the BJP government is imminent", said A B Bardhan, General Secretary, CPI.

With less than a week to go for Parliament to reconvene when political activity is expected to come to a head, the two Left parties were categorical that the BJP's days in office are numbered.

The mood in both the CPI(M) and the CPI today was expectant. An air of expectancy that with Jayalalitha's arrival in the capital on Monday and the Parliament session starting on Thursday, things would start rolling.

"We think it will not survive even a couple of days of the next Parliamentary session," Bardhan told journalists.

The conflicts confronting the BJP were of its own creation and reflected the failure of the party to manage a coalition, say the Left parties. But even more ominous are the dissensions emerging within the ranks of the BJP's alliance partners. "Some of the partners whom the BJP is counting on maynot be with them when the moment of truth arises," said Bardhan.

The opposition's chief strategist, Surjeet, was equally vehement that the BJP could not continue in office since it did not have the numbers, once the AIADMK parts ways with the ruling coalition.

Chaffing from the BJP having dubbed the CPI(M) as "political prostitutes," Surjeet said the BJP"s frustration was reflected in its recourse to slander and name-calling.

The immediate task ahead for the third front, he said was to bring down the BJP government. "Everything else will fall into place after that," he said.

Both the left parties are clear that in the present scenario only the Congress can offer a viable government and are equally categorical that they will not be part of a Congress-led government but extend support from the outside.

But they also clarified that this support would be issue-based. "For example, we will oppose the sacking of state governments, like we opposed the removal of the Rabri government in Bihar," saidBardhan.

As for the Third Front, "it does not have the numbers". "We are not nurturing any false hopes. We are not claiming we will form the government," he said.

With a virtual tug of war on the cards over which side the regional parties will swing, Surjeet has kept the communication channels open with virtually all the key players in different parties. Which way would the DMK go? What about Mulayam Singh's antipathy to the Congress? Would he (Mulayam) support a Congress-led government?

Surjeet had answers for all. The DMK is firmly with the Third Front, he declared.

"On Mulayam, I have the last word", said the master strategist, indicating that he would bring Mulayam around to supporting the Congress when the situation demanded it.