PRAGMATIC POLITICS

On the face of it, it was an impressive show of Opposition unity in the run-up to the general election next year: 19 senior leaders from 17 non-Congress Opposition parties attended the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka's new chief minister Siddaramaiah, deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar and other Congress ministers in Bengaluru on May 20

- Romita Datta

Among those present were M.K. Stalin, Nitish Kumar and Hemant Soren-the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Jharkhand, repectively-as well as Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti. There were notable absences too-among them West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who sent Trinamool Congress MP 

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar instead and also expressed her ambivalence about a Congress-organised opposition event.

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) criticised the Congress as "immature" for not inviting Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan. However, two Left stalwartsCPI(M) and CPI general secretaries Sitaram Yechury and D. Raja-were present at the Kanteerava Stadium.

In fact, even as the TMC, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and others were seen trying to cobble together a non-Congress third front to take on the BJP, the Left had been advocating for a single opposition of secular parties.

Though both Yechury and Raja have held talks with various parties, they are votaries of a strong opposition inclusive of the Congress.

The one state where an alliance between the Left and the Congress has been playing out in interesting ways in recent years has been West Bengal.