Left parties completely left out in Telangana politics?

See who has ended up as the biggest joker of Telugu politics? No marks for guessing. It is the two Left parties. Today, they find themselves totally left out of the mainstream of Telangana politics. NO party appears to be interested even in touching them with a barge pole. No party is interested in forming an alliance with them.

First, the BRS completely ignored them after dangling the carrot of seat-sharing for months. The Left parties - the CPI and the CPM - did nothing but wait for KCR's call. Expecting an alliance with the BRS, they did not even bother to undertake any pro-people protest programme in Telangana. Now that KCR has totally bypassed them and went ahead with the announcement, they find themselves in the opposition camp.

On the other hand, the Congress too appears not too keen on having an alliance with the Left parties. It is still smarting under the Left betrayal in Huzurnagar, Nagarjunasagar and Huzurabad bypolls. So far, the party has only engaged the Left in talks but has not so far given any clarity about the seat-sharing.

The Left parties - the CPI and the CPM - are now talking about forming a third front. But, there are not many takers for them. There is no party which is likely to join them. On their own, they may be able to make a difference in no more than five or six seats. Thus, the Left may go without any representation in the Telangana legislative assembly for the second time running. What a fall for the parties, which claimed to hold the balance for the state politics?