Third front comes into being in House

To take on Cong, BJP over corruption

Signalling the onset of a third front ahead of 2014 general election, 11 political parties, including the Left parties, Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) on Wednesday formed a block in Parliament to take on the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The block that has emerged has vowed not to allow the Congress to “use the disruptions of the House to pass bills that might be used to further its election agenda.”

The leaders of the block that took shape on the opening day of the final session of the current Lok Sabha, hinted at a common programme and joint election campaign, along with state-level seat sharing in Lok Sabha polls. “This is the first step after the October 23 meeting. We are aligning non-Congress, non-BJP parties in both Houses,” said JD-U  chief Sharad Yadav, while announcing the formation of the block in Parliament.

He was flanked by Sitaram Yechury (CPM), H D Deve Gowda (JD-U), Ramgopal Yadav (SP), Gurudas Dasgupta, D Raja (both CPI), M Thambidurai (AIADMK), Jai Panda (BJD), K C Tyagi (JD-U) and leaders of Forward Block, RSP, Jharkhand Vikas  Morcha and Asom Gana Parishad.

The block has identified price rise, corruption, secularism and federalism as the issues of prime concern. “We will raise issues that  concern people,” Yechury said. 

“We will not allow the Congress to use the disruptions of Parliament to pass Bills and later showcase them as their electoral agenda,” said Yechury.  

The third front leaders had to battle questions on the consistency of third front initiatives. Yechury dismissed questions on the vacillation of parties like the SP. He also dismissed the call for a federal front by Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee as “abstraction.”

Former prime minister Deve Gowda also reacted sharply and said that only two parties — the Congress and the BJP — are projected as the sole national parties which can rule the country. He expressed disappointment over poor portrayal of regional parties by the national media.

Yechury also avoided questions on Aam Aadmi Party’s emergence as a potent contender. “The party is not in Parliament, so we will not talk about it,” he said.  “This is the beginning of the journey,” said senior CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta.

“We will be forging state-level alliances for the coming elections,” D Raja said. He referred to the alliance being worked out between JD-U and the Left parties in Bihar.