The CPI has kept options open between an alliance with Nitish Kumar or Lalu Prasad in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The party would organise a Janakrosh (people’s anger) Rally on October 25. Bardhan was here to supervise the preparations of the rally, taking place two days ahead of the BJP’s Hunkar Rally.

“We treat both Lalu and Nitish as secular leaders”, the party’s senior leader, A.B. Bardhan said, adding: “We have not yet applied our mind on forging an alliance for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. We will be able to do so sometime in December.”

On Lalu’s conviction in the fodder scam and running the party from behind the bars, Bardhan said: “The Left has nothing against Lalu running his party from jail. At the same time, we have appreciated the fact that Nitish has broken ranks with the communal BJP.”

Bardhan predicted that neither the BJP-led NDA nor the Congress-led UPA would be able to form the government in 2014. “The BJP might do relatively better by taking its tally from 116 to 135 or 140 in the Lok Sabha. The Congress could be reduced to 115 or 116. The Left and the regional parties would be saddled with the responsibility to provide an alternative in that situation, he said.

Pointed out that JD(U) had been invited at the Left-sponsored secular conclave at New Delhi on October 30, while the RJD had been left out, Bardhan said: “The committee responsible for organising the conclave did consider Lalu’s name. But he was sent to jail. His absence was the sole reason for leaving the RJD out, nothing else.” Bardhan pointed out that the BJP and the Congress were trying to divert the issues troubling the common man by confining the impending battle between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi.

“The prices of onion are skyrocketing. The prices of vegetables and pulses have gone beyond the common man’s capacity. The CPI is trying hard to bind all regional parties with secular credentials,” he said.

Amidst gossip that Nitish was trying to broaden his base by forging alliance with the Congress and CPI, sources in the Left party ruled out talks of ties either with the JD(U) or the RJD at this stage.

“The CPI will not go into an alliance with any party that tied up with the Congress. It is still watching if Lalu goes with the Congress or Nitish. The party might forge an alliance with the one who does not go with the Congress,” a source said.