Third Front politics in
currency again
Malladi Rama Rao
Sitaram Yechury
Spurred by the recent
by-poll reverses the BJP
has suffered, the old
practioners of Third
Front politics are back
in action. For a change,
the Marxists appear to be in no
mood for pre-poll alliances. Post
–poll alliance is ok, says Sitaram
Yechury, the CPI-M supremo. His
reluctance to test alliance waters
is stemmed by the opposition
from the Karat school, which has
pooh-poohed his plans for a tie-up
with the Congress during the
Tripura polls. Moreover, the
Bengal experience shows that the
Congress stands to benefit from
an alliance with the Comrades to
the glee of Didi.
Akhilesh Yadav has reaped the
benefits of aligning with "aunty"
Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh. And he
wants to extend the alliance to next Lok Sabha poll.
But the BSP
supremo has not opened her
cards. Her aligning with the
Samajwadi party appears limited
in scope. She wanted a berth in
the Rajya Sabha from UP. It was
possible if SP votes for her
nominee. The LS by-poll support
was the bait, and the Yadav scion
fell flat for it. Remember
Mayawati and BSP never fight byelections.
So transferring BSP vote
to SP was no big deal. It is this
reality check that puts a question
mark over the Alnaskar dreams of
Akhilesh - of roping in the RJD as
well. The Rahul Congress, too,
may like to jump on the emerging
bandwagon but it is no more than
a small player in UP politics.
Yogi Adityanath
As Shantanu Gupta, the
biographer of Yogi Adityanath
says, over-reading Gorakhpur
result will be a mistake;
the BJP may have lost Gorakhpur and; there is not much of a dent in
the Yogi's image as "the new
poster boy of BJP".
Yet the Yogi camp cannot
ignore the growing anger amongst
allies like Om Prakash Rajbhar of
the Suheldev Bahujan Samaj
Party, who had stayed away from
the celebrations of one year of
Adityanath rule.
Raj Thackeray and Sharad Pawar
at the Pune event
The Congress is willing to catch
any straw to remain relevant, and
therefore made grand statements
about alliance politics from its
Plenary in Delhi. The sound and
fury of the Rahul show are neither
here nor there since the Grand
Old Party (GOP) is keen on leading
from the front. Sharad Pawar's
efforts on the other hand appear
more convincing. And he has
begun his effort from home
ground where he met Raj
Thackeray of Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena (MNS). And Raj
fell for the Maratha's bait and
called for a "Modi-mukt Bharat"
(Modi-free India). "It is high time
we achieved our third
independence in 2019," he said
during his Gudi Padwa rally, and
appealed to like-minded parties to
forge a united opposition against
BJP for the 2019 election. Unlike
cousin Uddhav, who is heading
Shiv Sena, Raj is not a big player
outside Mumbai. And Uddhav is
not yet ready to desert the
BJPthough their alliance forged on
Hindutva looks as good as
wrecked.
K. Chandrasekhar Rao with his
West Bengal counterpart
Mamata Banerjee
A surprise entrant into the
Third Front dreams is K
Chandrasekhar Rao, the
Telangana Chief Minister.
Known as KCR, he sees no
challenger to his TRS party on his
home turf, where his son, K Taraka
Rama Rao (KTR) is enjoying as a
good run as an able minister and
as a youth icon. He is not known
to have national aspirations; so
much so his plan to cobble up like
minded parties as an alternative
to the BJP and the Congress has
taken observers by surprise.
Chandrababu Naidu
He appears to have spurred
into alliance overdrive by two
factors. One the plans of his bete
noire, Chandrababu Naidu to
desert NDA and realign with the
Left. Second the growing
impression that Rahul Congress
has feet of clay. His visit to
Kolkata with daughter Kavita, a
MP, in tow is to be seen in this
light. KCR-Mamata talks are
exploratory in nature.
Like KCR, Mamata is an old
Congress hand; her priorities are
not in synch with the Telangana
Chief Minister. This means
Hooghly- Musi sangmam offers no
alliance nirvana. At least, in the
near to medium term.
This brings into reckoning, Nara
Chandrababu Naidu (NCN), the
Telugu Desam supremo, who has
just ditched the BJP and left
NDA.He did so once in the past in
2009 after being its main outside
prop for five years during
Vajpayee regime. Well, he is a
familiar face on the national
scene; he was the convenor of the
short-lived United Front. So it is
natural for the likes of Shard
Yadav, who are adrift, to welcome
Naidu's moves with enthusiasm.
But they will do well to do a NCN
brand check.
NCN attempted a 'Mahakutami'
(Grand Alliance) prior to 2009
elections.On 28 May 2011, he was
at his vocal best in pouring
vitriolic against the BJP and even
Narendra Modi, stating "It was a
mistake aligningwith the BJP. I am
expressing my regret to anyone
who was troubled by that
(alliance). I am apologizing to the
Muslims for making that mistake.
There will not be any alliance with
any communal forces in
future."On 27 September 2012 at
a minorities' convention organized
by the TDP, NCN again stated
"The alliance with the BJP (1999-
2004) was the biggest mistake
of my life". He pledged that
such a situation "would never
arise again."
There is no denying that
the Modi- Shah combine is
faltering in adhering to
what is called the
'coalition dharma' while
running the multi-party
NDA. As an analyst puts
it, from the manner in
which the BJP has dealt
with problems from its
NDA allies it will seem
that it roped in partners
not only to come to power
but also to fulfill its
burning desire to increase
its footprints in the
country—at their
expense.
Jiten Ram Manjhi
Again in 2013, NCN called
Narendra Modi as "Nara
Hantakudu" (Human Killer or
Butcher)." He replied to media
question that "We will not have an
alliance with the BJP. Asked about
Modi's leadership, he said, "Modi
has done nothing new in Gujarat.
He has only replicated what I did
when I was chief minister". He
attempted to forge the "Third
Front" in alliance with Mulayam
Singh Yadav and other so called
secular parties against the BJP-led
communal forces.
Chandrababu's dramatic shifts
in political posturing leave even
his followers and sympathizers
non-plussed. During the heydays
of Telangana agitation, his critics
in both regions accused him of
providing an opportunity to the
Congress Party to divide the state;
he also stood accused of not
closing ranks with all other parties
opposing bifurcation.
In 2014, the strong Modi
sentiment resulted in the TDP
aligning with the BJP for electoral
gains to win against the YSRCP led
by Jaganmohan Reddy. Modi and
the BJP factor helped the TDP to
sweep the polls. With Modi
charisma appearing to be waning
now, the wily politician, is back to
what he is best at. And "Special
Category Status" demand has
become his manna.
None should also rule out the
possibility of the self-styled
'kingmaker' at the national level
nurturing dreams of becoming another Deva Gowda or Inder
Gujral given his "Machiavellian"
skills in ruthless pursuit of power.
Will he succeed? Doubtful since
there is a no Harkishan Singh
Surjeet to advise and lead him to
the Raisina Hill.
There is no denying that the
Modi- Shah combine is faltering in
adhering to what is called the
'coalition dharma' while running
the multi-party NDA.
As an
analyst puts it, from the manner
in which the BJP has dealt with
problems from its NDA allies it will
seem that it roped in partners not
only to come to power but also to
fulfill its burning desire to
increase its footprints in the
country—at their expense. Now,
with its electoral base showing
signs of erosion, some of its allies
in Bihar and UP also are
threatening to go their own way.
Jiten Ram Manjhi's Hindustan
Awami Party, has just walked into
the RJD fold in Bihar. There is an
undercurrent of discontent in the
BJP –JD (U) alliance with brazen
communal speeches by some BJP
leaders to the dismay of Nitish
Kumar, who still stands by his
secular credentials long after
ditching the 'Mahagathbandhan'
he had formed with the Congress
and the RJD.Is the BJP testing
Nitish's patience? Well, it appears
so.
If this remains the trend, the
BJP will be sweating before the
2019 polls.
(With inputs from MS
Shanker in Hyderabad)