While the Congress has already made overt moves through its Marathwada strongman Sharad Pawar to align with the AIADMK, it may not be long before the Left parties also join the AIADMK camp, hope senior AIADMK functionaries.

According to the AIADMK calculations, the AIADMK-Congress alliance plus the TMC and Left parties would prove to be a formidable counter to the emerging DMK-BJP Front. Their simple electoral arithmetic is this: In the 1998 parliamentary elections, the Congress in alliance with the AIADMK break-away group, MGR-ADMK, polled 6.33 per cent of the votes while the AIADMK grabbed 25.91 per cent and TMC and Left parties toted up 21 per cent. If all these votes tumble into the basket of the AIADMK Front, it's a win-win situation, gleams a senior AIADMK leader. He also says that theparty has received positive signals from the Muslim parties, particularly the Indian Union Muslim League.

Moreover, if the AIADMK manages to woo PMK, which it believes is still within the realm of political possibility, the AIADMK would emerge the front runner in the electoral race.``We still hope that the PMK will come to our fold. Nothing can be ruled out in politics,'' a senior AIADMK leader says.

With the Congress moving closer to the AIADMK, the CPI and CPM are on the horns of a dilemma.

``In this electoral scenario, a Third Front comprising Congress, TMC and Left parties will not be viable,'' says AIADMK functionary D Jayakumar. ``Instead, if the TMC and Left parties jump on to the AIADMK-Congress bandwagon, they will escape political isolation,'' he adds.

For the AIADMK too, roping in the Left parties and TMC appears to be crucial to avoid an electoral debacle.