Post-poll logic will lead Pawar to Third Front: CPM

CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat today said NCP chief Sharad Pawar would have the option to join the Third Front after the elections as the "logic of the situation" would force him to do this.

"Right now we don't have any understanding with him regarding the Third Front...But I think the logic of the situation would lead him to also consider this option," the CPI(M) general secretary said.

"I don't know what he will decide. I think he will have the option to consider (joining third front)..he will consider various options after the elections," Karat told NDTV in an interview.

Asked whether Pawar could be accepted as the prime ministerial candidate of the Third Front, he said the issue would be decided only after the elections, but added that the leader of the government would not only have to agree to a Common Minimum Programme of the new front but the person

should also be acceptable to all its constituents.

His comments came ahead of a rally to be addressed by both Pawar and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Maharashtra today.