As the BJP and the Congress slug it out in the battle for Rajasthan, a third-front of seven parties is taking shape with its chief ministerial face and firebrand farmer leader Amra Ram asserting that it's time to end the state's two-party system of "divide, loot and rule".
'Comrade' Ram, as the CPM state secretary is called by his party colleagues, is confident that the mega alliance will put up a tough fight and said that it would not be surprising if they become a king-maker like the JDS in Karnataka.
Talking to PTI on his campaign tour in Godiyawas village in Danta Ramgarh, the 63-year-old Left leader said there was a cycle in Rajasthan of the Congress and the BJP "looting" the state for alternate five years.
This time the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will definitely lose but the Congress will not be able to win, he claimed.
The seven-party alliance called the Loktantrik Morcha, whose chief ministerial face is Ram, has got Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Marxist Communist Party of India (United), Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Janata Dal (Secular).
Asserting that the representation by Left parties in the Rajasthan Assembly will touch a record high in these elections, Ram said, "It will not be a surprise that like in Karnataka, the two main parties are left high and dry and a third force heads the government."