Finally, Karat admits third front was flop

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat admitted to his West Bengal comrades on Friday that the Third Front idea had proved a flop.

Addressing a closed-door meeting of state committee members at the end of their two-day conference, he said the masses had not taken to the Third Front because this alliance of regional parties lacked the clarity required to gain people’s acceptance. But he insisted that an alternative to both the Congress and the BJP at the national level was extremely necessary.

Karat said he hoped that despite the disappointing results of the last Lok Sabha election, the party would recoup and ultimately triumph.

CPI(M) sources said that a number of the defeated MPs had maintained that the Third Front lacked credibility. “It was felt that the CPI(M) failed to convince the voters that it could offer a stable government with the help of regional parties that had no common agenda,” said one of them.

Some even whispered that Karat was directly responsible for the setback, since it was he who had carried out negotiations with regional outfits like the Telegu Desam amd the Bahujan Samaj Party.

A number of other leaders, including chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and state secretary Biman Bose maintained there was need to introspect on the reasons for the defeat, and admitted the administration had failed to deliver effectively. “We have to stress rural electrification, issue BPL cards to the rural poor and revive the public distribution system,” said Bose.

Taking serious note of the recent clashes between the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress workers across the state, leaders also advised their cadre to take their opponents head on. Many claimed the police had not intervened in time to protect the CPI(M) workers who were attacked. “I appeal to all workers to hit the streets,” said Bose. “We have to foil this conspiracy. We have to take up a fresh struggle.”