Madhya Pradesh polls: 4 small parties & Left yet eye grand alliance against BJP

Bhopal, Oct 11: Although the big Opposition parties have failed to find themselves on the same page to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh, the smaller outfits have not sat idle.

According to reports, four small parties besides two Left parties in the poll-bound state have come together to form an anti-BJP platform for the November 28 elections. On October 7, representatives of the six parties met here and spoke over forming an anti-BJP alliance. They also set up an Opposition unity samiti to speak with parties like the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party for a grand alliance to defeat the saffron party which is ruling the state at a stretch since 2003. They also spoke over arrangements of seat-sharing. Lok Kranti Abhiyaan's Govind Yadav was made the convenor of the samiti.

Yadav said on the occasion that they have spoken to the Congress on the issue, but to different people. He also said the samiti so far has conducted informal talks.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Gondwana Ganatantra Party, Loktantrik Janata Dal, Prajatantrik Samadhan Party and Bahujan Sangharsh Dal besides the CPI and CPI(M). All the parties gave accounts of their areas of influence and the seats they have in the Assembly.

In the 2013 Assembly elections in MP, the BJP emerged as the largest party with 165 seats (out of 230) while the Congress received 58. The BSP got four seats while the Independents won three.

The BSP has had a fallout with the Congress over seat-sharing and has called off alliance with the latter in all the three poll-bound states in the Hindi belt - the other two being Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Can the smaller parties bring Mayawati back to the negotiating table?