Left dreams on as third front wilts away

NEW DELHI: The Left appears unruffled by some of its allies trying to reach out to the Congress. CPI general secretary AB Bardhan on Sunday exuded confidence that the AIADMK as well as the JD(S) will remain aligned with the Left in the post-poll scenario.

Mr Bardhan���s optimism about the Left���s clout extended even to Mayawati���s BSP, which has so far spurned all offers of a pre-poll alliance. ���She has made it clear that there will be no pre-poll arrangement. But I am hopeful she will be with us after the elections,��� Mr Bardhan told reporters here on Sunday after a two-day meeting of his party���s national executive.

Asked whom the Left was most confident about among the three politicians ��� Jayalalithaa, Gowda and Mayawati ��� he said: ���We are equally confident about all of them.��� The CPI leader claimed that not only will the existing allies remain by the Left���s side but ���many parties which are not with us now will join us after the elections.���

He tried to play down AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa���s recent utterances sending the ���dump the DMK��� signal to the Congress and JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda���s reluctance to comment on post-poll relations with the Congress. ���Jayalalithaa���s statement only created problems for the Congress, not us,��� he said. About Mr Gowda, he said: ���I refute all such allegations���.

Mr Bardhan���s reaction comes amid reports that the Congress is trying to enter into an alliance with the JD(S) in Karnataka using the argument that the BJP is the main ���threat���.

The Left parties have made it clear that they will have no truck with the Congress or parties aligned with it. About RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav���s statement that the Left was a natural ally, he said the choice will be made by the Left parties. The CPM and CPI have, for the first time, aligned with the CPI-ML in Bihar.

The CPI, which announced its list of 33 of the 50 seats it plans to fight, has decided to put up six candidates in Bihar, nine in UP and three in Madhya Pradesh. The list includes party national secretary Atul Kumar Anjan, who will be fighting from Ghose in UP, and Srichand Tanwar for the South Delhi seat.

Candidates for the three seats to be fought by the CPI in West Bengal ��� Ghatal, Midnapur and Bashirhat ��� will be announced by the Left Front in the first week of March.