New Delhi: Is the Third Front now an endangered species?
The TRS chief Chandrashekhar Rao is out. BJD's Naveen Patnaik may go to either to BJP or Congress. The TDP is being wooed by the BJP. Jayalalithaa is keeping her options open. The JD-S is partial to the Congress. And, Mayawati could go any way.
But the man behind the alliance, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, was forced to make the following statement of unity: "We're in daily touch with Chandrababu Naidu. We're all regularly in touch with each other. I cannot talk on behalf of all these parties. I am only saying we are meeting after the 16th."
Despite all this, keeping the flock together is clearly a herculean task, especially given the Left assessment which sees a drop in its own seats.
Overall, the Left's assessment is that it will get about 45 seats -- down from 59 in 2004, the party's highest ever tally.
There are cracks in the red fort of Bengal. The Left expects 28-30 seats in the face of a combined Congress-Mamata assault.
The assessment is 10-12 for Kerala, where infighting has hit the CPM. So, a loss of around 6 to 8. They expect two seats each in Tripura and Andhra Pradesh.
The Left's strategy now is to woo Sharad Pawar and Nitish Kumar.