Elections 2014: III Front

The ranks of the proposed front of non-Congress, non-BJP parties is swelling by the day despite doubts whether it has the cohesion for a sustained political life. As Congress and BJP scout for partners, those behind the effort to engineer a ‘third front’ have been able to find partners in diverse parts.

In Tamil Nadu, AIADMK has already tied up with CPI and CPM.

In Bihar, JD(U) will accommodate the two Left parties to take on BJP and the other formidable alliance of RJD, Congress and LJP of Ramvilas Paswan.

In Odisha, Naveen Patnaik is in touch with Left, JD(U) and others.

According to sources, even YSR Congress has been approached to join the alliance. There is talk of YSR Congress and CPM entering into an alliance in Andhra Pradesh.

And then there is SP and JD (S).

A senior Left leader said that, it is a game-changing combination that is likely to get more than 100 seats. Jayalalithaa is going to sweep Tamil Nadu and if YSR Congress joins, both NDA and UPA will find it difficult to form government.

A few of them — CPM, CPI, JD(U), SP and others — have decided to work as a group and not let UPA-2 pass any big legislation.

However, the accretion of numbers is marred by doubts on longevity. The key to endurance of the experiment is the requirement that its components stay away from both Congress and BJP. However, the options that they may exercise cannot be predicted with certainty, except in the case of Left and perhaps, to a lesser degree, BJD. JD(U), which is at the forefront of the initiative, was in coalition with BJP and intensely flirted with Congress before embracing SP and others in what is called an instance of rebound liaison. JD(S) has partnered both Congress and BJP. Ditto for Jayalalithaa.

Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa has inked a pact with the CPM to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections together roping in another partner for the AIADMK-led alliance that could set the stage for a national third front. The AIADMK supremo had struck a deal with the CPI. Announcing the tie-up, Jayalalithaa ruled out discussions on a prime ministerial candidate ahead of the elections despite some leaders in the state pitching her for the top job.

Leaders of 11 political parties took, what JD(U) president Sharad Yadav called, the second step towards forming a non-Congress, non-BJP group. To begin with, these parties will work together as a bloc and not let government pass legislations to further its election agenda.

These group include the four Left parties, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), AIADMK, AGP, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, JD(S) and BJD.

Outside Parliament, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury said leaders of the 11 parties will meet soon after the current session and chalk out future programme. It has been decided to hold a joint rally in the capital of one of the states where the constituent party is ruling. Since UP and Bihar will hold the key to who forms the next government, the rally might be held in Lucknow or Patna.

Meanwhile, leaders of these parties are exchanging notes on issues on which they have similar views. JD(S) president H D Deve Gowda has already sent a document and other parties are expected to give their views which will result in some kind of a common minimum programme. A meeting between CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is on the cards when the former goes to Patna to attend a party rally later this month. “What we will do outside Parliament we will soon announce,” Yechury said.

CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta said, “History will not repeat itself” when he and others were asked about differences among the 11 parties on a host of issues like women’s reservation and communal violence bill.

Yechury was also asked about Samajwadi Party’s continuing support to the UPA. Left also wants to paper over the fact that in the past, SP has left them in the lurch in favour of Congress. Yechury said communalism and corruption were the main issues.