New Delhi: Keen on having the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power at the Centre, the Left parties have started looking for allies to form the Third Front. But to muster a strength of 272 for a majority without involving either the Congress or the BJP is no mean task. Who else knows better than CPI general secretary AB Bardhan on the challenges of creating such a political unit with diverse regional interests and more importantly making it formidable enough to win elections and form government. Firstpost speaks to AB Bardhan in an exclusive interview to know it first hand. Excerpts from the interview:
How did the the front came into being?
The idea was to get a non-congress and non-BJP front. In the recent years, Indian politics has turned into a two-party system. This has to go. At a time like this it is important to get a coalition of the parties who has shown lack of confidence into both the Congress and BJP.
CPI general secretary AB Bardhan. AFP
What is the prospect of having such an alternative front, specially when it has already witnessed a smashing defeat in the elections in 2009?
Defeat is a part of the procedure. BJP has been gunning for the government for how many years now? But it actually been there for only one term. Time has never been better for a front as this. According to my assessment, Congress is not going to get more than 100 odd seats and BJP will get around 140 to 150 seats. Even if there is a huge sweep BJP will get not more than 180 seats.
What is the prospect of the Left parties apart from the coalition?
The Left parties are also in a good position and that's why we could reach out to the other parties with the proposal of a coalition.
But the talk of a federal front was already doing its rounds even before the idea of the Third Front was floated.
It's all different names. Why do we even need a name? It's all a post election equation. Earlier also there have been fronts like these, like the United Front in 1996. Earlier the name federal front was proposed by the head of the states who were talking from a perspective of a federal structure in their on state.
If it's still a matter of post-poll equation, will the parties go for mutual seat sharing in the respective states?
Of course there will be seat sharing among the allies. But nothing concrete has come up yet. We are meeting regularly and trying to form a common ground.
Will there be a common manifesto for all the parties?
There will be no common manifesto but we will go for manifestos for different states. But we are looking for a common ground. The Left parties have always emphasised on a common minimum programme. Even during the UPA 1 we had brought a CMP. During UPA 2 there was none.
What are the agendas of the campaigning going to be?
There will be an alternative stand on the policy making. But it's too early to comment on that. Why are we only being asked about our agendas? Neither BJP nor Congress have come up with their agendas for the election.
Why did you approach the Samajwadi Party when it is already being criticised for its abating and handling the riots in Uttar Pradesh?
If there is an argument about communal politics, then BJP is far ahead of all. Then why is Samajwadi Party solely be attacked?
But that cannot be an excuse for the Samajwadi Party to save its face.
True. But in a coalition one has to do a few compromises also. It's not possible to get a coalition which is extremely secular, extremely liberal and shares the same point of view on various issues.
Why not Bahujan Samaj Party? Specially when Samajwadi Party losing its ground in Uttar Pradesh after the riots?
We reached out to the 14 parties that are together now. We reached out to parties that in the past showed interest in the prospect of such a front. We have not got any such hint, officially or unofficially, from the BSP.
Will you be interested in having the Aam Aadmi Party with you?
We have not approached them. If they want to join this non-Congress or non-BJP front, they are welcome. So far we have not heard anything from them.
Why didn't the coalition reach out to any of the parties in Andhra Pradesh?
We have very consciously kept the Andhra parties out. The state is in a mess now. And within our coalition also we don't share the same stand on the Telangana issue. CPI supports Telangana but CPM does not support the move. So, we will wait until the situation solves in Andhra Pradesh. Hopefully they have to find a way out for the Telangana issue before the elections.
Is the front going propose a name for a prime ministerial candidate?
Why? There is no mandate that says that there has to be a prime ministerial candidate. And how can there be a prime ministerial candidate from a coalition of 14 parties? We will only look into the matter of choosing a candidate once the election results are out.
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