CHENNAI : Even as the recent huddle DMK working president MK Stalin had with Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samidhi founder K Chandrasekhar and former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha triggered speculations of a third front, the Left parties in Tamil Nadu seem to remain cold to the idea as they favour a single, strong united front to take on the BJP at the Centre and the AIADMK in the State.
Both Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and Communist Party of India (CPI) were part of the People’s Welfare Alliance (PWA) in the 2016 Assembly elections. The alliance, which also had Vijayakant’s DMDK, VCK, TMC and MDMK, failed to win a single seat after boasting of emerging as an alternative to the Dravidian majors.As the PWA withered after the poll debacle, both Left parties and VCK chose to work in coordination with the principal opposition party DMK over the issue of Cauvery river water-sharing dispute, before Vaiko’s MDMK jumped on the bandwagon.
Stalin’s warmth towards Chandrasekhar Rao, who had earlier talked of a federal front sans the BJP and Congress, has left the Congress sulking in the State. The national party found a voice in the form of VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan asserting that his party would be part of only the alliance that had the Congress. His statement came after having a sudden meeting with Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Under such a situation, both CPM and CPI appear to be dismissive of the notion of forming a third front.
“A third front or fourth front may not be viable under the prevailing political conditions,” said CPM State secretary K Balakrishnan. He added that his party had not yet considered formation of alliances now because the matter would come up for discussion only before the polls. Concurring with his views, CPI State secretary R Mutharasan said, “We need one broad alliance to check the BJP.”
“Third front is not only unviable but also unnecessary under the current situation. We want all parties to unite under a single umbrella to challenge the BJP and AIADMK,” he added. Mutharasan noted Stalin himself had unambiguously stated that the aim was to build up an anti-BJP front. The DMK is also not in a mood to jump the gun when seven political parties have been rallying behind it on a host of issues, particularly the Cauvery river water row.
“Chandrasekhar Rao has expressed his own views but we have not responded to him,” said TKS Elangovan, DMK MP, adding that the common aim is to forge a broad alliance against the BJP. He felt that it is a repeat of history that top leaders from other corners of the country come calling.
DMK president M Karunanidhi played a key role in forging a broad alliance of parties at the national level ahead of the 1989 general elections when National Front was launched. A volley of national leaders visited him in Chennai then. Later in 2004, he was instrumental in uniting the opposition parties under the umbrella of Congress, with Sonia Gandhi and late CPM veteran Harkishan Singh Surjeet knocking his doors. On both occasions, the alliance triggered a regime change at the Centre.“The current efforts are also expected to move towards such a direction to dislodge the BJP from power at the Centre,” Elangovan affirmed.