Left rules out 'third front' option

By M.R. Venkatesh

CHENNAI, MARCH 7. The CPI and CPI(M) are in no mood now to consider a `third front' possibility for the coming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu as a fallout of the `Pondicherry pact' between the AIADMK and PMK in the on-going seat-sharing talks.

Though the Pondicherry units of the CPI and CPI(M) have rejected the ``unilateral decision'' of the AIADMK in inking an accord with the PMK for the Union Territory, including having Chief Ministers by rotation, the Left parties maintained that this did not necessarily imply a `third front' option here.

``We stand by our original political line''-having seat adjustments with the AIADMK and the other secular allies with a view to defeating the DMK-BJP combine-said a senior CPI(M) politburo member when contacted in New Delhi by The Hindu this evening.

The member said the `third front' option was also not on the agenda of the continuing CPI(M)'s State Secretariat meeting in Chennai tomorrow, in which he will be participating, to be followed by the State Committee meeting on March 9.

``We are discussing with the AIADMK on the number of seats'', he said, even while making it plain that Ms. Jayalalitha's initial offer was not ``satisfactory'' to the Left parties.

The CPI(M) senior also explained that the Left parties' main grouse in Pondicherry was that the local units were not consulted before the AIADMK reached an agreement with the PMK and hence the method was hardly gratifying.

As of now, the `third front' option, following Congress-(I)'s refusal to do anything with the PMK in Pondicherry and TMC wanting to work together with the Congress(I) for the coming polls, is not on the Left parties' radar screens. They will continue to negotiate for an `amicable settlement' with the AIADMK in the seat-sharing talks.

Even as both CPI and CPI(M) would insist on their minimum number of seats expected from the AIADMK, the CPI's State Secretary, Mr. R. Nallakannu, said Pondicherry was a separate State where the political scenario was entirely different.

The CPI supported the Congress(I)-led Government there from outside, being part of the secular front, he said. But the main tussle in Pondicherry was between the Congress(I) and PMK vis-a- vis the AIADMK's offer after the next polls.

The question of either linking or delinking Pondicherry issue with developments in Tamil Nadu was not the Left's main concern, he argued, adding, that it had not occasioned any consideration of the `third front' option ``till now''. ``We are still part of the AIADMK-led front'', added Mr. Nallakannu.

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