CPI(M) polit bureau member B.V. Raghavulu on Monday ruled out formation of a third front at the national level in the ensuing elections, but expressed a possibility of parties coming together for a post-poll alliance.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Raghavulu said the CPI(M) had tried its best to establish a front earlier, but the effort was in vain.
“Parties like YSRCP should come clean about their association with the BJP. Stoic silence by party leaders on crucial issues are triggering suspicion. Even Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kaylan is reacting to people’s issues in a befitting manner, but we need to study his party policies,” he said.
The senior Left leader found fault with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s effort to take all credit for the ongoing struggle for Special Category Status to the State.
“After remaining silent for four years, he is now demanding SCS. People should remember that it was Mr. Naidu who wanted special package instead of SCS. It is good that he has come out of the clutches of the BJP at least now,” Mr. Raghavulu said. He said the party was against conducting elections simultaneously for both Assembly and the Parliament.
Mr. Raghavulu said the CPI(M) was not against electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the party had never subscribed to the opinion that the machines were hacked. “We want a paper trial and we have been insisting on it for quite some time,” he said.
He said the party did not believe that the Finance Commission had any North-South partiality, but insisted that problems of both the developed and economically backward States should be addressed based on merits.
Mr. Raghavulu said his party wanted the right of the people to recall legislators and felt elections should be held as per the population ratio.
On the clash between the Centre and Aam Aadmi Party, he felt the State government’s voice was stifled and the bureaucracy was functioning as per the directions of the Central government. “The very concept of cooperative federalism is under threat,” he said.
State-level seminar
He said the CPI and the CPI(M) were holding a State-level seminar on the prevailing political scenario. “The meeting will decide the Left’s direction in the coming elections.” He said around 2,000 delegates from 13 districts would take part in the meeting.
