When United Front put up a fight against the BJP

Talks have intensified in the last few weeks to create a federal coalition of regional parties against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Hindustan Times looks back at the last non-Congress, non-BJP government in power. The fragile nature of the Third Front became a powerful poll plank for the BJP. Its 1998 government lasted only 13 months, but in 1999, it returned to power and was able to form the first, stable National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government that ran for a full five years. The BJP, which was earlier regarded as an “untouchable” because of its strong Hindutva agenda, gained the confidence of allies.

The episode also institutionalised a more stable coalition dharma; both the NDA and the two Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments were stable because regional parties too did not want frequent elections.

The UF experiment also showed the importance of a larger, national party being the anchor of a coalition. And it marked the consolidation and then the fragmentation of regional parties.

The Janata Dal, which promised to be an alternative to national parties, remained an illusion in Indian politics and its various constituents drifted apart. After the experiment, the Congress, too, returned under the leadership of the Nehru-Gandhi family with Sonia Gandhi taking charge.

As 2019 approaches, Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, the Congress president, are in touch with many of the older leaders of the UF , and the inheritors of their political legacy , to keep the BJP out.

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