Briefing mediapersons on the deliberations at the Central committee of the CPI(M), party general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet said here today another major factor for the success of the NDA was that the campaign was conducted in such a manner as if (only) Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was contesting against Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The issues facing the common people and the country were highlighted neither by the BJP nor by the Congress president, he added.

The Congress' projection of itself in the campaign as the only political party which could provide a stable and viable government, was also rejected by the people. Another major factor for the success of the BJP, which could not increase the number ofseats in the Lok Sabha, was the failure of the Congress to form an alternative government at the Centre after the BJP government was voted out of office, he said.

The press communique issued by the CPI(M) on the deliberations in the meeting in which Surjeet, West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and other senior leaders of the party participated, said the Congress, the main opposition party in the country, had failed to put up an effective fight at the national level and in many states against the BJP and its allies. A large number of people in the country still identified the Congress with its past discredited record.

Another cause, which helped the BJP to come back to power, was the absence of a viable and strong third front at the national level, it daid.

Also, it said the success of the BJP-led NDA should be attributed to its alliance partners. Despite support by the media and misuse of the Prasar Bharati by the BJP, it could not increase its strength in the Lok Sabha.