Bengal is expected to see its own form of the third front, with smaller parties forming an alliance against the ruling CPM and the Congress-Trinamool alliance. Parties like Samajwadi Party and Party for Democratic Socialism (PDS) are bringing small parties together to form an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls. Most of these parties had earlier been with Mamata Banerjee during protests in Nandigram and Singur but developed distance after being denied the seats.

“Many parties which were with Banerjee have left her after she forged an alliance with the Congress ignoring her friends in Singur and Nandigram.

We wanted to form a political platform of our own,” PDS leader and former

CPM South 24 Parganas district secretary Samir Putatunda told The Indian Express on Monday.

He said: “We are not against Banerjee but we wanted to nominate our leader Saifuddin Chowdhury, former CPM central committee member in Jadavpur, from Jadavpur seat. But Trinamool has given the ticket to Kabir Suman, which will ensure easy victory for the CPM.”

“Banerjee also refused a ticket to SP leader Vijay Upadhaya, who had undergone a 26-day hunger strike with her in Kolkata protesting against land acquisition in Singur. This is high time smaller secular parties in West Bengal think about a common platform against the CPM and Trinamool,” Putatunda added.

The leaders also clarified that the alliance is limited to Bengal and they are not thinking to forge an alternative front like the Third Front. “We have no national plan. Our talks are on with smaller parties and soon we will make a formal announcement,” said Upadhyay.

... contd.