Sir — Trying a second time to follow comrade Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who had cemented the Third Front in the late 90s, CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat has announced that 11 left and ‘other secular parties’ would work together to “defeat the Congress and the BJP”.
Actually the left parties remain uncertain about which way many of the constituents would eventually go, but they want to keep up the attempt, banking on the hope that the results would throw up a considerably weakened Congress. Mr Karat had made a similar attempt in 2009 after the left’s split with the Congress over the US civil nuclear deal, but the move failed.
Now, he has revived the efforts, hoping for a better outcome this time on the assumption that the Congress is weaker now than it was in 2009. But it remains to be seen if the CPM’s grand dream will come true and whether the so-called front can remain a cohesive unit.