State polls: CPI (M) wants early decision on grand alliance

RANCHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) wants the Left parties to take early decision on whether to contest the assembly polls in alliance or not.

The party at the state council meeting concluded on Monday in Bokaro said it would raise the matter at the Left parties’ meet scheduled on August 23 in Ranchi.

The Left parties that include

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We should ask the opposition leader and JMM working president Hemant Soren to clear the air on possible alliance BHUBANESWAR PRASAD MEHTA, CPI state secretary

the CPI, CPI (M), CPI (ML) Liberation, Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC), Revolutionary socialist Party and Forward Bloc had identified 50 out of the 81 seats. The CPI (ML) Liberation has the lion’s share of 24 and both CPI (M) and CPI crossing the double digit number.

The CPI (M) state council has stressed that the Left should rationalise the seats, if to contest the election in alliance, and announce them by the end `of August.

CPI (M) state secretariat member Prakash Viplab said, “The party has taken the stand as speculations of early assembly polls along with Maharashtra and Haryana in October were gaining ground. JMM working president Hemant Soren is in favour of accommodating the Left in the grand alliance that has Congress, RJD and JVM (P) to its fold. However, it is difficult to adjust more than five seats to the Left.

To get into the alliance, the Left parties will have to drastically reduce the number and scale it down to a level that would be mutually agreeable.

CPI state secretary Bhubaneswar Prasad Mehta said, “We should ask the opposition leader and JMM working president Hemant Soren to clear the air on possible alliance.”

He said the Left parties have kept open the option of contesting the polls under the Left banner in case the alliance talks fail.

The Left parties have two representatives in Jharkhand assembly – one lawmaker belonging to the CPI (ML) Liberation, while the other being held by the MCC.