Congress on Wednesday said it was not “perturbed at all” by the announcement by eight regional parties to form a non-Congress, non-BJP platform with an eye on the next general elections.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan, reacting to the efforts to revive what is being described in political circles as another avatar of the Third Front, said, “Congress is not at all perturbed about the formation of any Third Front.”
Congress, she said, would face this “democratic challenge” and “would emerge more successful than before.”
She rejected the strong criticism of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the meeting of the eight parties in Hyderabad, particularly by AIADMK’s J Jayalalithaa and Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu, and claimed that no policy of the Dr Manmohan Singh-led government was wrong.
“The government is working towards fulfiling all promises made in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and working towards inclusive growth,” Jayanti Natarajan said.
However, party sources admitted that if the grouping emerges as a cohesive unit, Congress might be the sufferer because in all the states where these parties have a base, BJP does not have any strength and either Congress or its allies and parties supporting the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from outside are in power.
“If this group actually can revive the Third Front, they might win anywhere between 60 and 90 seats in the next elections, which will make it a force to reckon with,” the sources admitted.