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Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan today said, there is still possibility of alliance with Biju Janata Dal (BJD) like it had in 2009 elections, a couple of days ahead of the announcement of candidates list of the ruling party.
“It requires (the) two to tie up. It is our desire. We would like to have an agreement as we had last time. We would like to repeat that,” said Bardhan at the Biju Patnaik airport after reaching here.
The Left parties have been trying for last two months to bring Naveen Patnaik into the fold of Third Front, which has recently seen exit of its key ally AIADMK. Though Patnaik had first indicated his desire to join the front, later he has wavered from his stand by staying away from the meeting of the front leaders. In 2009 elections, the BJD had formed an alliance with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), CPI and CPM. While all the four MLAs of NCP later joined BJD significantly weakening the party’s presence in the state, the ruling party seems to be in no mood to enter into any tie-up with the Left parties.
The CPM has already announced its list of candidates for two Lok Sabha seats and 12 assembly seats, saying its alliance with BJD did not yield desired result last time.
The ruling party has so far announced its association with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), for the elections in Sundergarh and Mayurbhanj districts. However, the seat distribution among the two parties has not been finalised as BJD is yet to release its candidate list for the polls.
The party had earlier hinted that seat sharing agreements for some seats is on the cards as its internal survey indicated tough fight from other key political parties such as Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in these seats.
The CPI leader said the party would try to pursue Patnaik for entering into some sort of understanding ahead of the poll. “I will try to meet him. Why should you presume there will not be any alliance,” Bardhan asked.
