SP not averse to third front but only after polls

Although the Samajwadi Party (SP) is not averse to the idea of a third front comprising non-Congress and non-BJP parties, its leaders reacted with caution to the reports of parleys between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

SP leaders here said that no such front was possible before the next Lok Sabha elections. “A third front may be formed but only after the general elections,” said a senior SP leader here.

“We have been saying that the non-Congress and non-BJP parties will perform better in the forthcoming elections but there is no possibility of such parties coming together on one platform before the elections,” the leader said.

“Let the regional parties contest the elections on their own...later on we may form a third force and give the country a viable government,” he pointed out.

The leader remained evasive on who would be leading the front in case it was formed after the polls but said that the outfit having the maximum number of MPs could lead the same apparently hinting that party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav would be a candidate for the top post in the event of a third front forming the government.

The SP think tank feels that the Congress tally in the Lok Sabha will take a sharp hit while the BJP seat share could remain the same or may increase only marginally.

“In such a situation, the regional parties stand to gain,” said the leader.

SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had also in the past hinted at reviving the third front and expressed hope that the SP would lead the same with the maximum number of seats in its kitty.

Mulayam had on several occasions clearly indicated that he was nurturing bigger ambition and was all for the revival of the third force though he did not make it clear which were the parties who could be part of such a front if and when it was revived.

Mulayam had said that the SP could play a crucial role in government formation or even form a government led by it if it was able to secure around 60 seats in the 2014 general elections from the state.