Third Front: Is It Really a Possibility?
Recently in the parliament eleven regional parties united together. These parties claimed that they all came together in the parliament because they didn’t want the central government to pass any such bills that might benefit them in the coming general election. They even suggested that this unity in the parliament may also develop into a solid alliance between these parties. And they will fight the coming general elections together as a coalition.
Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was extremely excited about this alliance, because he is nurturing the dream of becoming the Prime Minister of India in his heart. So obviously now Nitish Kumar has taken it upon himself to initiate the creation of the Third Front.
The communist Party always wanted to make a Third Front before every Lok Sabha election, but they never succeeded. The tale of communist party is kind of weird. They never dared to do something by themselves. That’s why they are still confined in West Bengal and Kerala. But they always dream about removing Congress and BJP (Bharatiya Janta Party) from the center.
This time they laid the foundation of their dreams on the shoulders of Nitish Kumar. No doubt Nitish Kumar is very popular in Bihar. His coalition with BJP is broken now, but no one can say that his party, JD(U) (Janta Dal United) will perform regretfully in Bihar during this coming election of 2014. He may suffer some loses due to his break up with BJP, but it is not that significant as the experts are predicting.
Nitish Kumar has done some really good work in Bihar. No one can dispute this claim. Anyone who frequently visits Bihar could see for themselves that the Bihar is changing and its infrastructure is increasing. Bihar is coming out of the shadows of its past to a new light of exciting possibilities.
When Lalu Prasad Yadav ruled Bihar, the crime rates were sky high. Every one considered Bihar as one of the most backward and underdeveloped state. The opposition was even claiming that when someone is abducted in Bihar, the police never catch the kidnappers. Instead they only play the role of negotiator between the victim’s family and the kidnappers, and decide the amount of ransom.
Definitely these accusations may not be true. Such stupendous accusations were made by the political rivals of Lalu Prasad Yadav and his police force. They were made purely for political reasons. But we have to agree that conditions in Bihar were very poor during Lalu’s rule. Not only does the crime rates were out of control, but the government failed on many other fronts.
Keeping all this in mind we have to agree that Nitish Kumar truly changed Bihar. It may not be an ideal place yet, and may have some flaws, but the situation is definitely improving. The crime rates are coming down and more development is taking place. Even corruption has reduced to a certain extent.
The communist party cannot find a better candidate than Nitish Kumar right now. And Nitish Kumar also feels that a non-Congress, non-BJP, Third Front is an effective option. If by some miracle the Third Front wins this election, then Nitish Kumar could even become the Prime Minister of India. That’s why he is taking the initiative himself to make the Third Front.
Nitish Kumar was recently in Delhi. And he called a meeting of all the probable members of the Third Front at the residence of ex-Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda. Most of the invited party leaders attended this meeting, but the supremo of Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh didn’t come. Not only that, he even gave a statement to the media that, there is no sense in creating a Third Front before the elections. According to him, it should only be considered after the election results are announced.
Many political experts are now wondering, what is the meaning behind the statement made by Mulayam Singh? When Mulayam Singh and his party were among the eleven regional parties that came together to oppose the bill that could benefit the government in the upcoming election, then why didn’t he attend the meeting that Nitish Kumar arranged?
Many people are saying that, Mulayam Singh knows that if he or his party opposed Congress so blatantly, then it won’t be good for their political well-being. That’s why not only he has kept himself away from this meeting, but also announced that the Third Front won’t be created before the election.
Although there is no doubt that Mulayam Singh wants to fight against Congress, but he also wants to be on friendly terms with Congress. This means he only wants a friendly battle with Congress, and doesn’t want to do anything rash that could sour their relationship.
Ultimately it was Mulayam Singh who saved Congress and rescued their first government, UPA-I. When Communist Party had withdrawn their support on the issue of India-American Nuclear deal and the government was on the verge of collapse, Mulayam Singh came forward to support Congress. And then during the President’s election, he dumped Mamata Banerjee and stood with Pranab Mukherjee. At last Mamata Banerjee had to withdraw her opposition and support Pranab Mukherjee. She claimed that she is supporting Pranab Mukherjee because he is also a Bengali.
Mulayam Singh’s this political U-turn was not in the favor of Pranab Mukherjee, but in the favor of Congress. Although political experts are correct in saying that Mulayam Singh doesn’t want enmity with Congress, but there is also another side to this.
Just like Nitish Kumar is dreaming about becoming the Prime Minister, Mulayam Singh also dreams the same dream. During state elections when Akhilesh Yadav was made the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he made it clear that he wants to fully concentrate on the central politics. Mulayam Singh was suggesting that he is also in the line to become the Prime Minister of India.
Whenever there is a rally of Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, they always shout the slogans praising Mulayam Singh. Also many times during his party meetings, he asked his party workers to win as many seats in Lok Sabha election as possible, so that he could become the Prime Minister.
The implication is that the dream which Mulayam Singh is dreaming is an open secret. Everybody knows about his intentions. That’s why he put a hold on the formation of the Third Front before elections because every party leader in it wants to be the Prime Minister.
Photo Source: wikipedia
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