(Image source from: Is the Third Front workable?})
The Left and the regional parties have once again come together to form a united front. They offer a third alternative, besides the UPA and the NDA, to Indian voters in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The Third Front comprising of eleven parties – including the Left, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and other regional parties – are projecting themselves as an alternative to Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA.
However, similar coalitions in the past general elections proved to be futile as some of the allies join a national party in government formation at the centre. And this time the road ahead for the Third Front already looks bumpy. Some of the powerful regional parties seem to lack interest in joining the third front.
AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, who had expressed willingness to share seats with the Left in Tamil Nadu has already announced a list of her party's candidates in for all the 40 seats in the southern state. So AIADMK is not part of the third front it seems.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik has stated that talk about any front right now is not feasible. He says it's too early to form a third front. While the Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) chief P K Mahanta tactfully avoided the meeting of third front parties. But after few hours an AGP spokesperson expressed willingness of the party to ally with the BJP.
Besides the Third Front suffers from the ambition of many regional party chiefs to become the PM of the country. Jayalalithaa considers herself to be fit for the country's top job and is in the race to become India's PM. Nitish Kumar and Mulayam Singh Yadav are also contenders for the PM's post. Besides HD Deve Gowda is also in the race to become India's prime minister.
Even if the alternative coalition manages to muster the magic number of 272 seats in the Lok Sabha it seems there will be other vital issues. With so many PM hopefuls the Third Front looks unworkable after election as there would be a tussle for the top job in the country.
(Picture Source: )
(AW: Pratima Tigga)
