In a significant move ahead of Assembly elections in five states, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati at her official residence in Lucknow on Wednesday evening.

Karat, who was with Mayawati’s for two hours, discussed the political scenario in view of the upcoming Assembly elections. BSP’s National General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra was also present during the meeting.

The meet has gained political significance in the wake of CPM’s decision to support BSP candidates in those constituencies of the five states, where the former has not fielded its own candidates. “This has signaled the formation of an alliance between the BSP and Left parties at the national level ahead of the Lok Sabha elections,” a source in the BSP said.

“Wednesday’s meeting was an important step in the way of formation of the Third Front. CPM has already welcomed the idea by asking its supporters to vote for BSP in those constituencies, where its candidates are not contesting, a source in the state unit of CPM said. He, however, could not confirm whether both the parties would undertake joint campaign in the elections. Though what transpired between the two leaders at the meeting was not made public, a source said BSP may pass a similar resolution to support CPM candidates where its candidates are not contesting.

In an apparent bid to keep the Left in good humor, Mayawati had reportedly started maintaining distance from the BJP. The Left parties plan to work out a concrete strategy with the help of BSP to counter both the Congress and the BJP at the national level. Earlier, both BSP and CPM had joined hands to oppose the Indo-US nuclear deal during the trust vote in the Parliament.

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