The Congress has sent a clear signal that it is ready to work with the Left ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in all states except West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. This comes from defence minister A.K. Antony, a key strategist heading the AICC sub-group on pre-poll pacts. A pre-poll “understanding” between the Congress and Left to defeat the NDA may end all the speculation about a third front. This may also compel anti-Congress parties outside the NDA like the BJD, Telugu Desam, INLD and a faction of Dravadian parties to rework poll strategies, including pre-poll alliances.
Mr Antony’s statement in Kottayam Saturday that the Left was not “untouchable” is significant as it comes soon after Trinamul Congress and the DMK walked out of the Congress-led UPA.
Mr Antony had said: “There will not be any pre-poll alliance with the Left, though the Congress does not consider the Left untouchable. But I cannot predict the scenario after the elections...
“In states like West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the Left and Congress fight each other. So there is no question of a pre-poll alliance. I can’t say what will happen after the elections.”