The CPI(M) on Thursday made it clear that it was not going to make an effort in the formation of a third front for the coming lok Sabha election but said that it would strive for a left democratic alternative of regional parties based on policies.
Stating that the party was not interested in temporary electoral alliances that were not forged on the basis of policies, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said in Thrissur on Thursday that some regional parties were not fit to be included permanently in the proposed alternative front because of their divergent policies and programmes.
However, he was categorical in his statement, “The question of an alliance with the Trinamool Congress does not arise at all.” He alleged that the Trinamool Congress workers, using the influence of political power, had attacked several CPI(M) activists in West Bengal.
On certain, West Bengal CPI(M) leaders’ reported proposal for extending support to the Congress as the party had done in the time of the UPA-1, Karat said this was a figment of imagination of the media.
As far as the CPI(M) was concerned, building consensus against the anti-people policies of the two main fronts and forging a people’s movement were more important than the constitution of a third alternative against the fronts led by the BJP and the Congress, Karat said. There should be a united forum of parties that would stand against globalisation and liberalisation, he said.