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Third Front or anti-Congress combine |
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The latest avtaar (incarnation) of the third front came up last week ostensibly with the objective of providing a stable and viable alternative to the Congress and the BJP at the Centre. But in reality, as in the case of the earlier manifestations of the third front or third alternative phenomenon, the need to keep the Congress away from power or at least prevent it from heading the next coalition in New Delhi, appears to be on the top of the agenda of most of its constituents. The third front significantly has kept its doors open and parties opposed to the Congress may joinits ranks in both the period before and after the coming Lok Sabha elections.
As of now, the third front comprises of ten political parties having their footprints in eight states. In the Lok Sabha elections, they are in direct opposition to the Congress in their respective states, where they are significant players. None of the parties, even those belonging to the Left, have their base all over the country and are basically confined to a state or a small number of states and regions. Apart from the Left parties - the CPI(M), the CPI, the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party - the front has the Janata Dal (Secular), the Telugu Desam Party, the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti and the Haryana Janhit Congress as members. The parties headed by two influential ladies - one in the north and one in the south - the Bahujan Samaj Party and the All India Anna DMK - are also associated with the front, but their primary objectives are not clear. Representatives of these two parties attended the Dobbespet, Karnataka rally where the front was launched and BSP supremo Mayawati hosted a dinner for the front leaders at her new residence in New Delhi at the weekend. Reports say that Mayawati’s agenda is that the front should agree to project her as its prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha elections if they want her party to be an active participant in the combine. All India Anna DMK chief Jayalalithaa also has prime ministerial ambitions, but her main goal in this pre-Lok Sabha election period is to forge an effective alliance in Tamil Nadu to checkmate her prime state rival DMK president and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. She has already sent signals to the Congress and would not think twice about ditching the third front if an opportunity arose to form an alliance with the Congress to take on Karunanidhi.
Ironically, in this period of uncertainty before the Lok Sabha elections, even leaders of bit players, small parties not having even ten members in the Lok Sabha, are fancying their chances of making it to the top political position in the country, the office of the Prime Minister. Most third front constituents would like to leave the choice of their prime ministerial candidate till the time the results of the general elections come in. They say that the numbers in the new house should decide the issue, and nobody can be projected as the combine’s candidate for the top position at this stage. But Mayawati is a shrewd player and may try for an informal okay from the front constituents on the basis that her party is most likely to emerge top dog among the front constituents in the next Lok Sabha. With the Congress and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party failing to come up with an effective challenge to Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh, her party, the BSP, is expected to bag a substantial number of seats in the state. In the country as a whole also, the BSP is putting up its candidates in about 500 seats, having spurned overtures from the Left parties and others for alliances or seat adjustments.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has said that he is not leaving the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, though his party has been talking about his credentials to occupy the office of the Prime Minister. He has also said that it is time that a leader from Maharashtra occupies the Prime Minister’s post. Obviously, that leader can only be Sharad Pawar in the present circumstances.
The way the Congress is facing virtual isolation and sidelining in the state-specific seat-sharing deals, it is apparent that the strategy of the regional warlords is to create a situation where the Congress is not able to dictate terms when the time comes for the formation of another coalition to rule at the Centre. The national party has been forced to accept the junior party status in the alliance with the Trnamul Congres in West Bengal. The party has been allocated seats which do not hold out much hope of increasing its strength in the Lok Sabha. In Uttar Pradesh, the projected alliance with the Samajwadi Party has failed to materialise. Even if an attempt is made to revive it through some last minute deal, it may not get a nod from the voters. There is slim prospect of the Congress increasing its numbers from Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha.
From the emerging scenario, it is apparent that the regional parties in various fronts, the UPA, the NDA and the Third Front will make an all out effort after the Lok Sabha elections to combine to give another government to the country. The Congress as well as the BJP will find it difficult to retain their strength in the Lok Sabha even at the present level.
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