The attempts at formation of a third front in the State ahead of the Assembly polls have suffered a severe blow with the Samajwadi Party (SP) opting out of the alliance over seat-sharing.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) State secretary and politburo member Badal Saroj, while talking to The Pioneer said "the SP has walked out over seat-sharing. We are still in talks with the SP and we have reached an understanding on not fielding candidates against each other on some key seats bordering Uttar Pradesh (UP)."
Badal further said the SP national leadership was not interested in becoming a part of the coalition in the State. The State leadership was, however, in talks with us and at the same time persuading the national leadership to allow it to join the coalition, he added.
He said the coalition was now left with both the left parties, the CPI-M and the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Rashtriya Samanta Dal (RSD). Besides, negotiations were on with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Janata Dal Secular (JD-S) and we are hopeful that we would soon reach an understanding.
Gondwana factions were also in talks with us and a final decision on them would be taken soon, he added.
Badal ruled out the possibility of any truck with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) due to ideological differences. Besides, the BSP was with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.
"I have confirmed news that the BSP and Congress have agreed not to field candidates against each other on 35 seats bordering UP and are negotiating with each other for understanding on more seats," Badal added.
He said the SP decision to opt out of the coalition initiative resulted due to a number of reasons, including the disinterestedness of the SP national leadership and hurry for announcement of party candidates. The SP started announcing its candidates amid talks for seat-sharing causing unrest among other parties, he added.
He said the outcome of the assembly elections would be shocking and the smaller would for the first time emerge as the king maker in State politics.