Left in the lurch by Republican Party of India (RPI) leader Ramdas Athawale and the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Republican Left Democratic Front (RLDF), also called the third front, is down but not yet out.
Left in the lurch by Republican Party of India (RPI) leader Ramdas Athawale and the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Republican Left Democratic Front (RLDF), also called the third front, is down but not yet out.
The third front, now surviving only with Left parties and Janata Dal (Secular), will be contesting in around 30 seats across city.
The RLDF was formed before the 2009 assembly elections and claimed to represent a non-Congress and non-communal third front. But it could not perform as expected in the elections, resulting in its constituents such as Athawale and SP breaking away. Now in the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the SP will be contesting independently, while Athawale has joined hands with the saffron alliance of Shiv Sena and BJP.
"To leave the third front is their decision. Our aim is to bring pro-people, clean and secular people in power in BMC. We are contesting where we have considerable strength and hope for good results," said Shailendra Kamble, Mumbai district committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Athawale, during his speeches has clearly mentioned that the third front was never a viable option and only switching to the saffron alliance will bring him to power. The Left parties though, are confident of building a mass movement against the rulers of the BMC and are hopeful of bringing about a change.
"We never wanted to collect parties just for the sake of capturing power. Our front was based on ideology and these people (Athawale) have turned their back on the ideology," said Prakash Reddy of the Communist Party of India (CPI), which is contesting 16 seats.
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