Congress, BJP dismiss Mulayam talk of Third Front
The Congress and the BJP today dismissed SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav’s talk of a Third Front for a national alternative as a “non-starter” and nothing new and an “enduring mirage” of Indian politics.
Yadav while asking like-minded parties ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections to come together said yesterday it is “high time” parties which have the common goal to achieve social change come together as in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Yadav, whose party with 22 Lok Sabha MPs provides crucial outside support to the Congress-led the UPA, had also said that coalition politics has come to stay in the country,
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh dismissed Yadav’s view, saying he has not said “something new” and the party is not “bothered.”
“We work according to the situation, Whatever he (Yadav) has said is not something new,” Singh said.
Asked whether the Congress is worried after Mulayam’s statement, he said “the Congress is on its own track. Our track is the policy of Gandhiji, social secular and ideology of Jawaharlal Nehru, Therefore we are not bothered.”
Union minister and Congress leader Manish Tewari said that if one looks at the history of coalition politics in India in the last 20 years the reality is that a Third Front or a Fourth Front or a Fifth Front has been the “most enduring mirage of Indian politics.”
BJP leader Balbir Punj said Third or Fourth Front will continue to be in news for “wrong reasons” but it will be a “non-starter”. “I don’t think any such coalaition will come up.”
The Key NDA ally the JD (U) appeared to agree with the BJP’s view. “We do not think there is any scope for Third Front. People will give clear mandate this time. It is true that this is coalition era so there will be coalition govt. But I do not see any chance of Third Front.” JD(U)leader Devesh Chandra Thakur. The UPA ally the NCP appeared to respond positively to Yadav’s stand.
“Era of coalition govt has began. Different parties with common understanding and a programme will come together to form the government and political formation,” NCP general secretary D.P. Tripathi said.
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