Political forces will realign after LS polls:Left

 The Left parties envisage a realignment of political forces in India after the Lok Sabha polls, enabling the Third Front to form an alternative secular government at the Centre without the support of the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party, top Left leaders said in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

"We have appealed to secular parties to come forward to help form an alternative government. Some have responded and others will respond after the polls", Communist Party of India - Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechury and Communist Party of India national assistant secretary D Raja said, while separately addressing meet-the- press programmes at Thiruvananthapuram.

"But, the final act of the present political drama in the country will unfold only after polls," Yechury said. Remarking that a 'deep churning' was going on in Indian politics, Yechury said it was not just a game of power politics by persons who have positioned themselves as prime ministerial candidate.

 "There is real pressure from lower cadres of regional parties for alternative policies to help the poor", he said.

Coming down heavily on the Congress and the BJP for calling the Third Front a `motley crowd' and a `farcical illusion', Raja said both these parties were 'desperate' as a concrete Third Front had emerged and it had become a reality.

The era of bipolar politics in India was over and the theory that a coalition government at the Centre could only be formed either with the support of the Congress or the BJP has become a thing of the past, Raja said.

In support of their argument, the leaders pointed out that the emergence of the United Alliance in 1996, National Democratic Alliance in 1998 and United Progressive Alliance in 2004 had become a reality after the polls.

"Similarly, a new alliance of secular forces will come into force in 2009 also," Yechury said, pointing out the possibility. Asked whether the Third Front would accept Congress support to form a government at the Centre, both leaders said they are fighting against both the Congress and the BJP.

"Our main task now is to strengthen the third force and emerge as the single largest combine to form the government", they said in unison. On the issue of the prime ministerial candidate, Yechury said there was no dearth of efficient personalities for the post. "However, we are not going to show any disrespect to our democracy and people by naming the prime minister (before polls)," he said.

Attacking BJP leader L K Advani for terming the Third Front as a farcical illusion, Raja said it was Advani who was living in an illusion as he would never become the prime minister.