By T.G. Biju
New Delhi, July 10 (IANS) With their Lok Sabha members’ tally drastically reduced this time, the Left parties are planning to request Speaker Meira Kumar to allow them to sit as a single block - to present themselves as the third largest entity in the house, a senior Left party leader has said.

“The four Left parties are seriously planning to sit as a single block in the Lok Sabha. Discussion is on among the allies to reach a consensus on the issue. It will help us to emerge as the third largest single block in the house,” the Left leader told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said the move would be possible only if the speaker approved of it.

From a total of 60, the Left parties’ tally has sharply come down to just 24 members in the 15th Lok Sabha. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which was the third single largest party in the previous Lok Sabha with 43 members, has only 16 this time.

The three other Left parties - the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Forward Bloc - also suffered a huge setback in the 2009 elections.

While the strength of the CPI has been reduced to a mere four from 10 in the previous house, the RSP and Forward Bloc, which had three seats each earlier, now have only two MPs each.

“While there is floor co-ordination among the Left parties in the Lok Sabha, they are recognised as separate entities. If the Left parties are recognised as a single entity, they will become the third largest block in the house. This will give more weightage to the issues the Left raises,” the Left leader said.

“If we form a single block, we will have a convenor who would be responsible for co-ordinating the MPs. It will be his responsibility to provide opportunity to MPs to participate in discussions on important matters,” the leader said.

He said by sitting as a single block the Left parties would also be allowed more time during the debates - according to the house rules.

The Samajwadi Party with 23 seats is the third largest party in the current Lok Sabha, while the Bahujan Samaj Party with 21 seats is the fourth biggest party.

The CPI-M, the biggest Left party, is in the eighth position - below even regional parties like the Trinamool Congress and the DMK.

• Lok Sabha