New Delhi, June 27: The BJP has dismissed the Left’s decision to stop attending the UPA’s coordination committee meetings as a “mock-fight” and said it is “guided by strategy rather than conviction”.

The party warned that it would monitor the Left’s conduct during the monsoon session of Parliament to see if it supports the government on policies that go against the interests of the “aam admi” (common person). “If the Left is genuinely concerned about the common person, the real test will be the floor of the House,” BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said today.

“It is only a mock-fight. Let us not forget that when the UPA completed a year in office, the Left decided to boycott the celebrations. At the same time, the Left parties sent a greeting and assured the government of continued support. That symbolic protest became a mock gesture because on the one hand, they kept saying there was nothing to celebrate. But on the other hand, they assured the government of their support,” he added.

The BJP leader pointed out that there are two parts to the Left’s “strategy”. “They believe the UPA has become a liability, a burden on their popularity, so they want to distance themselves from the government. The second aspect is that while formally they will stop attending the meetings, they will coordinate with the government on an informal basis.”

He listed the number of occasions the Left has backed the Centre’s “controversial” and “unpopular” decisions like the Jharkhand governor being sworn in despite lack of numbers, the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly and the “mismanagement” of security in Kashmir. “Only in economic matters, they oppose the government,” Jaitley said.

Alleging that the Left’s credibility was “suspect”, Jaitley maintained its conduct in Parliament would prove if its opposition to the government was only for the “benefit of the media” or “politically-inspired” to address the “interests of the common person”.

Asked if the BJP would bring a vote of no confidence against the government to put the Left on test, Jaitley said the decision would be taken jointly by the NDA before Parliament goes into session.

The BJP also slammed the Mulayam Singh Yadav government’s “repressive” policy against its “peaceful agitation” to demand the restoration of Jan Sangh founder Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s statue in Rampur.

The party accused activists of Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi party of removing the statue.

The Uttar Pradesh government had arrested BJP protesters, including senior leaders. The party said it would take up the matter at a meeting of its national executive in Chennai in July.