New Delhi: Even as Communism has taken a beating across the world, Communists in India have not only managed to retain power in two States but have emerged as the third largest force in both houses of Parliament, a position, they claim, that may not be altered this time too.

They even say without them a secular Government is not possible.

Although their vote share has been slipping marginally with their number of seats in the dissolved Lok Sabha at about 40, the left parties, mainly Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), Communist Party of India (CPI), RSP (Revolutionary Socialist Party) and Forward Bloc, have a "crucial" role to play in the current political situation, says CPM polit bureau member Sitaram Yechury.

"In the given situation it (Left) is a major group. We'll hold the same (third) position with added numbers," says D Raja, national secretary of CPI, adding that the "left would emerge stronger this time".

"The left will play a crucial role in (secular) Government formation and will be able to influence policies" in the post-poll scenario, claims Raja.

The CPM and CPI put together will be contesting some 110 seats across the country. While the CPM is fighting 70 seats, a bulk of it in West Bengal and Kerala, the CPI is fielding candidates in 37 constituencies in 17 States.

As the left parties hope to romp home together with an increased tally of "around 60", Yechury defends the decreasing vote share to lesser number of contested seats under seat sharing arrangements to avoid division of secular votes.

While Yechury points out that his party's success ratio was high at nearly 50 per cent, Raja says their poor performance, winning only 4 out of 54 seats that they contested was because of "lack of electoral adjustments" in four States.

In 1999, the national vote share of CPI fell to 1.4 per cent from 1.75 in 1998 when it had won nine seats out of the 58 fielded for Lok Sabha. This was 0.22 per cent less than the vote share of 1.97 per cent that it garnered with 12 wins in 43 seats contested by them.

In comparison, CPM vote share improved marginally in 1999 when it got 5.4 per cent of the national vote by winning 33 of the 72 seats it contested. This was one seat more than in 1998 when it garnered 5.16 per cent of votes from contesting 71 seats.

The 1998 performance, according to Election Commission, was a good 1.04 per cent less than in 1996 when the party got a 6.12 per cent vote share by winning 32 seats out of the 75 it had fought.

Even as the strength of left parties has hovered between 36 and 32 in the 1990s, when the era of coalition politics began, Yechury points out that today "we are in a situation when we are 'Left-in' and not left out".