A day after the UPA-Left meeting on the nuclear deal, the palpable “threat of mid-term poll” was discussed by CPM general secretary Prakash Karat with the SP and the TDP, the dominant Third Front constituents — here on Friday. 

 The Left is understood to be “not very happy” with the impression given by the Congress on Monday that it had “not yet given up on the deal”, according to reliable sources.  The fissures caused by the Indo-US Nuclear agreement seemed to have propelled the CPM closer to the Third Front alignments. The meeting was attended by SP president Mulayam Sigh Yadav, general secretary Amar Singh, TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu, party MP Yerran Naidu and the CPM general secretary. Karat persistently skirted queries on the political significance of his meeting with the SP and TDP. 

Though Karat maintained that the meeting had sought to thrash out “a joint strategy and floor coordination” in the prospect of a special session of Parliament being called to scrutinise the nuclear issue, the discussions are leant to have touched issues beyond the nuclear stalemate.

The widening of rift on the nuclear controversy after a brief thaw is attributed to the stand of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Monday’s meeting where he maintained that deal was still on and the Congress had “not given up”, sources said.

Karat’s meeting with the Third Front leaders on Tuesday has assumed political significance in the light of stepped up war of words between the Congress and the Left, not only on the nuclear deal but on other issues concerning West Bengal.  

A good half-an-hour meeting of Karat with United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) — the re-christianed Third Front — has assumed significance in the backdrop of further straining of ties between the UPA and the Left parties. After the meeting SP general secretary said Left parties were their “natural allies”.

The Third Front (UNPA) leaders later in the night met at former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala’s residence to chalk out their future political strategy.