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Another Third Front in the making |
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B.I. Saini
Eight regional parties from across the country have again decided to launch a common front to make their presence felt. The eight parties are of varied strength, some big and some small. But there is one common feature, most of them have been either ruling parties or among ruling coalitions, either at the Centre or in their states, some time in the past, but are now out of power, for the most part.
Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, which hosted the Hyderabad conclave, Jayalalithaa’s All India Anna DMK, the Kerala Congress faction led by K.J. Thomas, Vaiko’s MDMK, all from the south, Brindaban Goswami’s Asom Gana Parishad in the east, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal and BabuLal Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, or their leaders were ruling parties, or among the ruling coalitions in not too distant a past. They are apparently feeling the pangs of being out of power and are looking for a strategy so that they can regain their lost clout not only in their respective states, but also at the Centre.
The eight political parties which have decided to come together, have not yet decided on what they are going to call their combine - third front, third alternative or something else. They are hoping to work out the name and other details of the new front at their next meeting likely to be held in Chennai later this month. A significant feature of the Hyderabad meeting was the emergence of AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa as the pivot of the new formation. It was Jayalalithaa who spoke to the media after the meeting and briefed them about its outcome. Significantly, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu referred to Jayalalithaa as “our leader.” With the next meeting in Chennai taking place in Jayalalithaa’s backyard - Tamil Nadu - in a way, it appears that the former Chief Minister is going to emerge as the leader of the new combine.
While the parties going in for a new formation cannot be written off as spent forces, it is clear that several important regional parties are not with the new front. These include Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, which is now ruling the country’s most populous state (Uttar Pradesh) on its own and the Shiromani Akali Dal which recently regained power in Punjab in alliance with the BJP.
The first major task before the new front will be to see that its voice counts in the elections of the President and the Vice President, due in the next couple of months. The eight party front has not yet opened its cards on the issue, but there are already straws in the wind, which indicate the way it is going. Speaking in Chennai, Jayalalithaa has ruled out supporting any candidate for the Presidentship put up by the Congress. This leaves only one option, supporting Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, if he contests as an Independent, and not as a candidate of the BJP-led NDA. The new front has also the option of putting up its own candidate, but this will be ensuring that the Congress or the UPA candidate wins with a bigger margin. So, this is not an option at all.
The possibility of a third front becoming a viable alternative to both the major political formations at the national level, the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA, are limited at present. Such a front can be viable only if it is able to get the support of the Left parties. The Left, especially the CPI(M) may be favourably inclined towards Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, but in the present circumstances, it would not risk aligning openly with such a front, even when it includes Mulayam’s party, because it will be seen as playing into the BJP’s hands. The new front will remain a marginal force at the national level in the near future, but nobody can rule out its combining with other regional outfits and other parties to become a more powerful player, especially at the time of the Lok Sabha elections, 2009.
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