KOLKATA: Inspite of ‘electoral disaster’ in West Bengal and Kerala, the CPM on Wednesday ruled out forming a Third Front to counter the UPA or NDA in national politics. However, the party is keen to align with like-minded secular parties.
Party general secretary Prakash Karat is said to have communicated this to the cadre at the 23rd West Bengal CPM state conference, which began here on Wednesday.
“There are different regional parties in states or other political parties that are secular and democratic. We can jointly campaign with them on common issues. But this can never be perceived as a Third Front as we are not trying to start a Third Front,” said CPM Politburo member Nirupam Sen on behalf of Karat.
The CPM is open to poll-alliances with secular, non-Congress parties. The four-day conference, which is being attended by Karat, Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat and S Ramachandran Pillai, is expected to chalk out the party’s future plans as well as to discuss the reasons for the poll debacle in West Bengal. “Our party has weakened especially in Kerala and West Bengal after the defeat in the polls and we have little presence in major parts of the country,” Sen said.
The CPM, which was defeated by Mamata Banerjee’s TMC in the last Assembly elections in the state, is trying to identify the reasons for the failure and reorganise the party machinery.