Was a mistake to form a third front before elections: CPI's AB Bardhan

Karan Thapar,CNN-IBN | Mar 16, 2014 at 11:18am IST
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/was-a-mistake-to-form-a-third-front-before-elections-cpis-ab-bardhan/458212-37-64.html

New Delhi: Former CPI general secretary AB Bardhan has admitted that it was a mistake for the Left front to attempt to forge a third front alliance before the polls.

In conversation with Karan Thapar on this week's Devil's Advocate, he also said the embarrassment of its premature failure could have been avoided if the Left had not gone into seat sharing talks with so many regional parties.

Bardhan also accepted that he was "disappointed" by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's behaviour and felt "slighted" by her offer of only one seat in the state, while repeatedly pointing out that Jayalalithaa was the one who approached the Left Parties and announced the alliance.

Here is an excerpt of the conversation:

Karan Thapar: The third front the left parties tried to put together, would you accept it ended in embarrassing failure

AB Bardhan: I wouldn't say embarrassing failure. I have always maintained that such a front can come about only after the elections

Karan Thapar: Was it a mistake to try and put it together before the elections

AB Bardhan: No. It is difficult to put it together before the elections, because a third front can come about only with a non Congress, non BJP parties. Mostly these are regional parties

Karan Thapar: It is not just difficult. It resulted in embarrassing headlines. So I put it to you again, was it a mistake to try the difficult at the wrong time.

AB Bardhan: I think you see we need not have gone on trying to work out you see adjustments with all regional parties. That we need not have tried. Because some of the regional parties wanted to maximise their seats and they were not willing to concede any seat to the left.

Karan Thapar: So you do accept that the attempt to work out regional arrangements with regional parties was a mistake

AB Bardhan: All the regional parties, was a mistake.