Apprehensive of the outcome of the forthcoming Congress plenary session and a subsequent realignment of political forces, the Left parties have toned down their opposition against the United Front government on various issues.
An indication is their silence on the continuance of the three ministers of the Rashtriya Janata Dal in the Union cabinet and the efforts to placate regional parties by immediately agreeing to the candidature of Krishna Kant for vice-presidents post. This was part of the strategy not to do anything to jolt the coalition, a senior Left leader admitted.
However, the Left parties hope that any realignment of political forces in the present Lok Sabha would not work. It will have to be either the United Front government or elections, a CPI(M) politburo member said.
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The Left parties see the recent attacks by the Congress on the Left parties as part of the strategy to isolate the Left within the United Front, which could be followed by the Congress efforts to join the coalition.
They do not realise that isolation of the Left in the coalition will mean an end of its existence in its present form. Elections will follow which will further put the Congress in a disadvantageous position, the politburo member added.
A senior CPI leader explained that some changes were possible in the United Front in the forseeable future. In no way would the Congress be able to wean away the TDP and the AGP. The Samajwadi Party will not sever its ties with the CPI(M), and the Janata Dal will not go with the Congress. All these parties fight the Congress in their respective areas of influence, he added.
However, he did not rule out the possibility of the DMK and the TMC going the Congress way. The DMK at the moment is concerned about the upsurge in the AIADMKs support. Joining hands with the Congress may prove to be handy for the DMK to contain Jayalalitha, the CPI leader said.
Left leaders also discounted the possibility of the regional parties joining hands with the BJP. In both Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Muslims constitute more than 12 per cent of the total population. Why will these parties risk so much votes just by going with the BJP? Besides, why will the ruling parties in these states give a foothold to another national party in their states, the CPI leader said. However, Left leaders are concerned about the recent events which have tarnished the image of the United Front. The handling of the Bihar situation and various corruption cases has worried them.
The idea behind having a United Front as the third alternative was that it should be different from the Congress and the BJP. But the performance of this government in the last one year has been far from satisfactory, another CPI(M) politburo member said.