Lok Sabha Polls 2014: Is Third Front A Political Mirage?

By M H Ahssan | INN Live

The leaders of a possible Third Front will be meeting in Delhi on February 5 but the fissures have already emerged with Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav saying no such alliance was possible without him. The remarks came in the backdrop of CPM chief Prakash Karat meeting AIADMK Chief J Jayalalitha in a bid to stitch up the alliance.

Mulayam said, "No Third Front will be possible without Samajwadi Party as Uttar Pradesh has more seats than others." An alliance of non-Congress, non-BJP parties, a political experiment undertaken to spice up the electoral battle in the last two decades, was often called as the biggest mirage of the Indian politics.


After forging a pre-poll alliance with the CPIM, Jayalalithaa had Prakash Karat as her guest. Though she completely dismissed talks of who the prime ministerial candidate would be as premature, the viability of the grouping is doubtful as there are several prime ministerial aspirants.

Jayalalitha said, "The question on prime ministerial candidate does not arise right now. We are trying to forge an alliance."

Breaking its 17-year-old alliance with the BJP and not keen on sharing the anti-incumbency of the Congress, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal United leader Nitish Kumar too was marching forward. Nitish said, "There is a possibility of alliance with CPI in Bihar. We are focusing on a larger alliance at the national level. This will be a non-Congress and non-BJP front."

Telugu Desam Party Chief Chandrababu Naidu, however, remained non-committal as his focus very much on the Telengana issue. Naidu said, "I am here to talk about only Telangana."

The first signs of such a rainbow coalition was seen on October 30 last year in Delhi when these parties had joined hands during the the anti-communalism convention. On February 5, there will be another such meet.

The final contours of the so-called Third Front or a federal front will take shape only after elections results. The say a party will have in this group will depend on the numbers it manages in the polls.