Efforts to form a secular alliance ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections have suffered a setback with the Left parties reluctant to join such a formation.
Janata Dal(United) sources said its proposal to the Left parties had so far not elicited any positive response.
Though the two major Left parties — CPI and CPI(M) — have weakened in Bihar over the years, the former continues to have some pockets of influence in the State where it was once the main opposition party.
The CPI(ML) is currently the strongest of the Left parties, having support in parts of central Bihar and naxal-affected pockets of the State.
CPI(ML) politburo member Prabhat Chaudhary said his party was unlikely to fight alongside JD(U)-Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine and was working for an alliance among the Left parties.
“We have been against the State government’s policies and also those of Congress at the Centre. How we can support them in an alliance here?” he said.
