That the next ruling coalition at the Centre will be a mix of strange bedfellows, irrespective of their ideological predilections, is almost a certainty now.
That the next ruling coalition at the Centre will be a mix of strange bedfellows, irrespective of their ideological predilections, is almost a certainty now.
Even the Left, which is working overtime to cobble up a third front, is trying to win over the Janata Dal (United), a constituent of the BJP-led NDA, and wean the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) away from the Congress. At the same time, it is not emphatic in its denial of a post-poll tie-up with the Congress.
While JD(U) leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Monday hinted that he could be gravitating towards the Left-led third front, AB Bardhan, general secretary of the Communist Party of India, said NCP chief Sharad Pawar had “all the qualifications to become prime minister”.
Kumar, denying Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s claim that he was in talks with the Congress for a post-poll alliance, said: “The Left leaders are my old friends and we have been together earlier in the days of the Janata Dal.” Kumar said his party and the Left have been together on “many issues”, including their “opposition to the nuclear deal”.
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has repeatedly highlighted the “secular” credentials of the JD(U) despite its long association with the BJP.
On Saturday, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav sang paeans to the Left, saying its blocking of reforms in the insurance and banking sectors saved India from the ravages of recession.
However, the BJP, which provides crucial support to JD(U) government in Bihar, said Yadav’s praise of the Left was an “old Lohiaite’s affinity for left-of-centre policies”.
But CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury didn’t rule out the possibility of a tie-up with the Congress. He told reporters in Kolkata that “the matter of supporting the Congress is not in our agenda now. We will take up any such agenda, if at all required, only after the elections.”
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