GUWAHATI, March 9 - Negotiations among Left Front constituents in the State with regard to seat sharing for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections are on and a final picture is likely to emerge within a day or two.
Leaders of four Left parties � the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation and the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI) � are in negotiations to contest the parliamentary elections as part of a common platform.
�A meeting of the Left parties will take place on March 10. The picture regarding seat sharing among the constituents of the Left Front is likely to get clear after the meeting,� CPI(M) central committee member Suprakash Talukdar told The Assam Tribune.
He said that the Left parties, including the CPI(M), want consolidation of the anti-BJP votes.
Talukdar said that CPI(M), on its own, has started preparing for the Lok Sabha polls and a number of organizational activities are being carried out across the State.
�Public rallies and meetings of our party cadres are going on. We are focusing on three-four constituencies in particular, including Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Lakhimpur and Jorhat. Our party is looking to contest at least two or three seats. But the final decision will be taken only after consultation with the other Left parties and finalization of the seat sharing formula,� said the senior Marxist leader.
Regarding the issue of alliance with parties outside the Left platform, Talukdar said, �We want anti-BJP consolidation. We want to avoid split of votes among the anti-BJP parties. But there has been no negotiations between the CPI(M) and the Congress in Assam. Congress is anyway planning to contest from all the 14 constituencies in the State. So the prospect of having an understanding with the Congress is absent.�
He said that CPI(M) is willing to enter into negotiations with the AGP if the regional party takes a public stand against the BJP.
�At this moment there are reports that AGP is in talks with the BJP to form an alliance. AGP will have to clarify its stand. Till now, the party has not made its position clear. We want the AGP to take a firm stand against the BJP. CPI(M) is ready to talk with the regional party if the AGP openly states that it will not go with the BJP or the Congress,� Talukdar said.
The CPI(M) leader also dismissed any possibility of tie-up between the Left and the AIUDF.
�AIUDF�s brand of politics will only create confusion among anti-BJP forces. So there is no question of going with the AIUDF,� said Talukdar.
