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Third Front taking shape |
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Even as the Congress and the BJP are trying to fine-tune their strategies for the Assembly elections due early next year, observers say that a virtual Third Front has been taking shape in Parliament. There has been more and more close coordination between the Samajwadi Party, the Telugu Desam and the All India Anna DMK in the current session of Parliament. The latest example of this was seen on Friday, Dec. 15 in the Rajya Sabha when members of the three parties jointly staged a walk out over surrender of 310 acres of land by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajsekhara Reddy.
The surrender of the land rocked the House with the TDP leading the walk out against the refusal by the chair to allow the matter to be raised.
Observers say that the joint action by the three parties in the Rajya Sabha assumes significance in the backdrop of their attempts to unite regional outfits, not allied with the Congress, on a common platform. In this session itself, when Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh raised the issue of the Vedanta Scam allegedly involving Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram, the three parties stood up to lend support to him.
All India Anna DMK leader J. Jayalalithaa gave indication of the move towards the uniting of regional parties when she came to Delhi in December. During her stay she met Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Sigh Yadav and cautioned the UPA government against dismissing the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh. Similarly Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu paid many visits to Lucknow to defend Mulayam Singh Yadav against attacks by former Prime Minister V.P. Singh and Raj Babbar.
Support cannot go on for long : Left warns UPA
A nation-wide general strike on Thursday, Dec. 14, called by Left-oriented trade Unions figured prominently in Parliament, with the Left members raising the issue in both Houses. Members from the Left parties stayed away from the proceedings and warned the UPA government that their support could not go on for long if the government continues to pursue what they called anti-poor and anti-labour policies.
The December 14 strike was the second general strike in two years to protest against what CPI(M) leader Gurudas Dasgupta called, “all round failure of he present government.”
The Left partis which supported the workers’ strike - the CPI(M), the CPI, the RSP and the Forward Bloc, were backed by the Telugu Desam, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party, the AIADMK and the BSP. Their MPs also held a demonstration in front of Parliament to express solidarity with the striking workers.
Responding to the Left charges, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi said the UPA had fulfilled most of its commitments and said legislation to provide social security to the unorganised sector workers would be introduced in the budget session of Parliament.
Strike cripples Left-ruled states
The general strike called by trade unions crippled life in the three Left-ruled states of West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala. Its effect was also felt elswhere. One significant feature of the strike was the participation of a large number of Government teachers from several states across the country. The strike paralysed the IT sector also even though West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had called for leaving the IT hub in Kolkata unaffected. About two million central government employees reportedly took part in the strike.
Mamata Banerjee continues her hunger strike
Meanwhile, there is no end to the Singur stand off in West Bengal where Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is continuing her hunger strike. Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh met Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata last week and requested her to call off her fast, but she did not agree. Mamata Banerjee’s condition is worsening as her hunger strike is now over a fortnight old. She has given a call to the people to boycott TATA company’s goods for its decision to set up a small car plant on fertile agricultural land at Singur.
There are reports that behind-the-scene efforts are being made to end the crisis by finding a face-saving formula.
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