For A Force Multiplier
Mulayam Singh Yadav’s first call for reviving the Third Front came soon after his party won the Mainpuri seat. While his critics claim that Mulayam’s pet plan is nothing more than a pie in the sky his supporters reiterate the leader’s sentiment that it is an idea whose time has come. Says Congress’ Salman Khursheed: “The Third Front is a non-starter. It is just Mulayam’s attempt to negotiate with the BJP. He is frustrated because his party has about 40MPs who have no role whatsoever in the current Lok Sabha.” Mulayam’s lieutenant Amar Singh thinks otherwise. He is confident that the Third Front will be a reality, though he admits much will depend on the results of the Bihar assembly elections next month.
Though there isn’t an obvious plan to destabilise the UPA Government at this stage, the SP leaders are clearly working overtime to figure out the dissatisfaction quotient within the UPA. They have already located its potential political space. In the past four Lok Sabha elections, they argue, neither the Congress nor the BJP secured more than 280 seats of the total 543. Both the national parties had to depend on smaller parties to cobble up a government.
January 24, 2005