Third Front to counter Cong-NCP secular card

The manifesto also mentions the recent clashes in Sangli and alleges that the administration had failed to check the riots though they knew the reason behind the flare up. There is also a reference that says that Congress and NCP workers had covertly supported BJP-Sena candidates to defeat rivals within the parties in many assembly segments in Pune during the Lok Sabha polls and during the PMC elections,too.

According to CPI(M) candidate of the RLDF from Parvati,Kiran Moghe,the Third Front will reach out to people with positive programmes against communalism. “We had supported the Congress-NCP to keep BJP-Sena away from power. But the Congress and NCP are not much different and the failure of the government in checking riots in Sangli is proof of that,” she said.

Saying that secularism was not restricted to opposing communal forces,Moghe said,“It should also reflect in economic,political and cultural policies. If we examine minutely,for the last five years,the Congress has been following the same economic agenda as the former BJP-led government. We want to give people an alternative,” she said.

Moghe and other RLDF workers participated in Eid celebrations on Monday. CPI-M Pune district general secretary Ajit Abhyankar said it was not with a view to woo Muslim voters. “We have always been saying that every festival,be it Diwali,Eid or Christmas,should be festivals of Indians. They should not be restricted to one community. During our campaign,we are also going to celebrate Dussehra next week,” Abhyankar said.