Bhubaneswar: The Left parties in the state have decided to enter into pre-election alliances with other national and regional parties to put up a united fight against the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Communist Party of India (CPI) senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, D Raja, who was in the city Sunday, told the media about the prospects of the Left parties and Congress party coming together to fight the elections in Odisha.
“Currently we are in talks with the Congress party in Odisha. Not only CPI, but the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) is also talking to the grand old party. It is most likely that CPI, CPM, Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) will fight elections together in the state,” said D Raja.
Raja clarified that talks are now on for a pre-election arithmetic to bring together friendly and like-minded parties on board so that they can collectively counter the BJD and the BJP in the state in the upcoming Lok Saba and Assembly elections.
The Congress party, however, also said it was holding parleys with the Left parties in the state. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik Sunday confirmed the ongoing talks with the Left parties, but also cautioned that seat sharing, terms for the pre-poll alliance and other formalities are yet to be worked out.
Although the Left parties and Congress could not win a single seat in Odisha in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, they did get some success in the Assembly elections. The Congress emerged the second largest party in the Assembly after BJD. On the other hand, CPM was also able to bag a lone seat to broadcast their views in the state Legislative Assembly.
According the past performances of parties in the elections in Odisha, a pre-poll alliance between the Left parties and Congress is unlikely have much impact in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, the tire-up may help both parties to increase their number of seats in the state Assembly, elections for which are scheduled this year.