Instead of a hotchpotch coalition, Third Front aspirants must articulate a common vision
With AIADMK joining forces with CPI and CPMto fight upcoming Lok Sabha elections, a rudimentary Third Front coalition is in the works. Left parties have also opened channels of communication with Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in Bihar, Naveen Patnaik's BJD in Odisha, Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress in Andhra, as well as Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and Deve Gowda's JD(S). However, several things need to happen before a serious political grouping takes shape. As of now there's little clarity about the political agenda of such an experiment, other than a vague understanding on remaining equidistant from both Congress and BJP.
But this in itself is not sufficient to sustain a Third Front. Add to this the fact that Third Front constituents are essentially regional parties with disparate ideologies and no clear national agenda. The Left had acted as a glue for previous Third Front coalitions. But leftists today are a spent force, fighting for their survival in Bengal while somehow holding on in Kerala.
To be taken seriously the non-Congress, non-BJP grouping must win at least 100 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. With BJP predicted to make significant gains in UP and Bihar, this target would be difficult to achieve without taking Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress on board. But bringing the Left and Trinamool toge-ther is improbable, just as SP and BSP are unlikely to see eye to eye. Then there's the question of nominating a prime ministerial candidate. With a host of regional strongmen with giant egos, internal contradictions are bound to surface.
Many in this nebulous Third Front grouping will like to keep their options open in case NDA hits the 200 seat mark and is in a strong position to form the next government. In that case, their putative positioning with the Third Front can be used as a negotiating chip to win a better bargain for themselves in an expanded NDA. Nevertheless, with Aam Aadmi Party joining the national fray, things could get difficult for NDA and there may be opportunities for a Third Front qua Third Front. If Third Front aspirants want to seize those opportunities, it would be prudent for them to put forward a clear leader and articulate a common, fully fleshed out vision that reaches out for, let us say, greater federal rights.
With AIADMK joining forces with CPI and CPMto fight upcoming Lok Sabha elections, a rudimentary Third Front coalition is in the works. Left parties have also opened channels of communication with Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in Bihar, Naveen Patnaik's BJD in Odisha, Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress in Andhra, as well as Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and Deve Gowda's JD(S). However, several things need to happen before a serious political grouping takes shape. As of now there's little clarity about the political agenda of such an experiment, other than a vague understanding on remaining equidistant from both Congress and BJP.
But this in itself is not sufficient to sustain a Third Front. Add to this the fact that Third Front constituents are essentially regional parties with disparate ideologies and no clear national agenda. The Left had acted as a glue for previous Third Front coalitions. But leftists today are a spent force, fighting for their survival in Bengal while somehow holding on in Kerala.
To be taken seriously the non-Congress, non-BJP grouping must win at least 100 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. With BJP predicted to make significant gains in UP and Bihar, this target would be difficult to achieve without taking Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress on board. But bringing the Left and Trinamool toge-ther is improbable, just as SP and BSP are unlikely to see eye to eye. Then there's the question of nominating a prime ministerial candidate. With a host of regional strongmen with giant egos, internal contradictions are bound to surface.
Many in this nebulous Third Front grouping will like to keep their options open in case NDA hits the 200 seat mark and is in a strong position to form the next government. In that case, their putative positioning with the Third Front can be used as a negotiating chip to win a better bargain for themselves in an expanded NDA. Nevertheless, with Aam Aadmi Party joining the national fray, things could get difficult for NDA and there may be opportunities for a Third Front qua Third Front. If Third Front aspirants want to seize those opportunities, it would be prudent for them to put forward a clear leader and articulate a common, fully fleshed out vision that reaches out for, let us say, greater federal rights.
View from the left: Third path
In an article in the CPM’s People’s Democracy, party general secretary Prakash Karat says: “The regional parties constitute the bedrock of this emerging alternative. “
Third path
Claiming that the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls will not be a two-way contest between “two leaders, or two parties, or even two alliances”, the CPM has said that recent efforts to bring together the non-Congress secular opposition parties have brought attention to “an alternative pole in Indian politics”.
In an article in the CPM’s People’s Democracy, party general secretary Prakash Karat says: “The regional parties constitute the bedrock of this emerging alternative. When combined with the Left parties, it acquires the shape of an all-India alternative… The state assembly elections in various states have shown the strength of the regional parties, which were able to win substantial support and form governments. These parties… have decided to be part of the non-Congress, non-BJP combination.”
Karat states that the announcement of these parties coming together has “alarmed” the BJP, with its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi labelling the third front as “third rate”. “The reason for such a virulent reaction from the BJP is evident — as long as the electoral battle was framed in terms of ‘Congress versus BJP’ and ‘Modi versus Rahul’, the BJP was riding high on the expectations that all the anti-Congress discontent of the people could be harvested by it. But with the emergence of an electoral alternative to the Congress and the BJP, the whole equation has been upset and the BJP’s hollow claims are being exposed,” he argues.
The article, however, clarifies that the coming together of these parties does not necessarily mean all of them would enter into electoral alliances or seat adjustments, given the very nature of these parties. “Since many of these parties are state based, it is not feasible to have seat adjustments with other constituent parties in other states. But all these parties can pool their strength from their respective states for an all-India combination,” Karat adds.
CORPORATE COLLUSION
The CPI alleges that the political class aids corporations in “looting” the country’s natural resources. An editorial in New Age says, “We have been repeatedly asserting that the big scams and scandals involving huge loot of natural and national resources are by-products of the pursuance of the policies of neoliberalism. Corporates loot these resources, ruling politicians facilitate this loot and then they all share the loot.”
The CPI alleges that the political class aids corporations in “looting” the country’s natural resources. An editorial in New Age says, “We have been repeatedly asserting that the big scams and scandals involving huge loot of natural and national resources are by-products of the pursuance of the policies of neoliberalism. Corporates loot these resources, ruling politicians facilitate this loot and then they all share the loot.”
LOKPAL AND CORRUPTION
An editorial in the CPI(ML)’s ML Update argues that the AAP government’s fall in Delhi over the Jan Lokpal Bill highlights the “unity of the Congress and BJP in seeking to restrict the right of the Delhi government to pass an anti-corruption legislation of its own making.” It emphasises that both the lokpal law enacted by Parliament and the Delhi government’s Jan Lokpal draft have been “silent on the question of bringing corporate corruption under the ambit of the Lokpal legislation”. It refers to the AAP’s announcement of filing an FIR on the issue of gas pricing as a “powerfully symbolic gesture” and says the gas pricing scam “illustrates graphically how price rise and corruption are Siamese twins, born to the policy regime of pro-corporate privatisation.
Unreal – and unsustainable
AThird Front of 11 regional parties, presenting an effective challenge to Congress and BJP, is totally unreal. First, the formation boasts a host of ‘hasbeens’ – its core, the Left, has been wiped out even in its state of origin, West Bengal, while Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (S), apparently following its leader’s example, has dozed off into the political sunset. With little regional power, no common minimum programme of targets, not even an agreed candidate as its PM nominee, this is not a formation characterised by coherent ideology, dynamic leadership or growing legions – making its claim to power very weak.
Secondly, the main agenda driving this formation – apart from trying to garner bargaining power with national parties – is out of step with reality. Left leader Prakash Karat says fighting corruption and communalism is its aim. But AAP’s stolen significant anti-graft thunder while anti-communal rhetoric doesn’t convince many with Samajwadi Party – under whose watch Muzaffarnagar’s violence occurred – centre stage. Given the track record of participants – including Nitish Kumar’s JD (U), in alliance with BJP until last year – fighting communalism only sounds like a parroted old phrase.
Finally, the front itself looks ready to unravel. AGP wasn’t even at its inauguration while BJD’s Naveen Patnaik didn’t just stay away – he cryptically commented such a formation was premature. Emphasising the front’s invisible agenda, AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa announced national steps on everything her party’s raised, from the Women’s Reservation Bill – bitterly opposed by the front partner Sharad Yadav – to the UN Security Council if she achieves commensurate position. Clearly, this front is just a fluid political formation with an eye to upcoming chance. It won’t be long before members with stronger regional achievements bid adieu to others lacking these, dissolving the collective. Coalition mirrors ground reality Murali Ramachandran
Are-emergence of the Third Front, of seven regional and four Left parties, as an alternative to UPA and NDA is nothing surprising and only reflects the succinct
reality of Indian politics today. With the vote share of national parties like Congress and BJP getting increasingly truncated over the past few decades, it is allies of the Third Front and other smaller groups that have come to represent the largest share of India’s electorate.
In fact, during the last general elections Congress vote share was only around 30% and of BJP a lower 19% – indicating these national parties can lay claim to the loyalties of less than half the total electorate. In the coming general elections vote share of Congress is likely to slip sharply. So the space occupied by regional groups, which generally have better secular credentials than BJP, is most likely to noticeably expand.
The best part is that these regional parties have strong local leaders who can strike much better rapport with the local electorate and win their confidence. Moreover, with many of them in power in the states, these parties now have theorganisational skills and resources to take on national parties on local turf. With Congress losing ground across states and BJP gains restricted to north and west India, a cross-regional alliance representing states from every corner of the country has a good chance of emerging as the eventual winner. Such a coalition will represent the federal character of our country and hence the real aspirations of Indian people. And the idea of such a coalition also has sound historical credentials. After all it was under the rule of a Third Front that its finance minister P Chidambaram rolled out a dream budget that was hailed by both the common man and industry.
An editorial in the CPI(ML)’s ML Update argues that the AAP government’s fall in Delhi over the Jan Lokpal Bill highlights the “unity of the Congress and BJP in seeking to restrict the right of the Delhi government to pass an anti-corruption legislation of its own making.” It emphasises that both the lokpal law enacted by Parliament and the Delhi government’s Jan Lokpal draft have been “silent on the question of bringing corporate corruption under the ambit of the Lokpal legislation”. It refers to the AAP’s announcement of filing an FIR on the issue of gas pricing as a “powerfully symbolic gesture” and says the gas pricing scam “illustrates graphically how price rise and corruption are Siamese twins, born to the policy regime of pro-corporate privatisation.
Third Front of 11 parties formed to challenge Congress, BJP
Unreal – and unsustainable
AThird Front of 11 regional parties, presenting an effective challenge to Congress and BJP, is totally unreal. First, the formation boasts a host of ‘hasbeens’ – its core, the Left, has been wiped out even in its state of origin, West Bengal, while Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (S), apparently following its leader’s example, has dozed off into the political sunset. With little regional power, no common minimum programme of targets, not even an agreed candidate as its PM nominee, this is not a formation characterised by coherent ideology, dynamic leadership or growing legions – making its claim to power very weak.
Secondly, the main agenda driving this formation – apart from trying to garner bargaining power with national parties – is out of step with reality. Left leader Prakash Karat says fighting corruption and communalism is its aim. But AAP’s stolen significant anti-graft thunder while anti-communal rhetoric doesn’t convince many with Samajwadi Party – under whose watch Muzaffarnagar’s violence occurred – centre stage. Given the track record of participants – including Nitish Kumar’s JD (U), in alliance with BJP until last year – fighting communalism only sounds like a parroted old phrase.
Finally, the front itself looks ready to unravel. AGP wasn’t even at its inauguration while BJD’s Naveen Patnaik didn’t just stay away – he cryptically commented such a formation was premature. Emphasising the front’s invisible agenda, AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa announced national steps on everything her party’s raised, from the Women’s Reservation Bill – bitterly opposed by the front partner Sharad Yadav – to the UN Security Council if she achieves commensurate position. Clearly, this front is just a fluid political formation with an eye to upcoming chance. It won’t be long before members with stronger regional achievements bid adieu to others lacking these, dissolving the collective. Coalition mirrors ground reality Murali Ramachandran
Are-emergence of the Third Front, of seven regional and four Left parties, as an alternative to UPA and NDA is nothing surprising and only reflects the succinct
reality of Indian politics today. With the vote share of national parties like Congress and BJP getting increasingly truncated over the past few decades, it is allies of the Third Front and other smaller groups that have come to represent the largest share of India’s electorate.
In fact, during the last general elections Congress vote share was only around 30% and of BJP a lower 19% – indicating these national parties can lay claim to the loyalties of less than half the total electorate. In the coming general elections vote share of Congress is likely to slip sharply. So the space occupied by regional groups, which generally have better secular credentials than BJP, is most likely to noticeably expand.
The best part is that these regional parties have strong local leaders who can strike much better rapport with the local electorate and win their confidence. Moreover, with many of them in power in the states, these parties now have theorganisational skills and resources to take on national parties on local turf. With Congress losing ground across states and BJP gains restricted to north and west India, a cross-regional alliance representing states from every corner of the country has a good chance of emerging as the eventual winner. Such a coalition will represent the federal character of our country and hence the real aspirations of Indian people. And the idea of such a coalition also has sound historical credentials. After all it was under the rule of a Third Front that its finance minister P Chidambaram rolled out a dream budget that was hailed by both the common man and industry.
Non-Congress, non-BJP alternative not opportunistic, says CPI(M)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday sought to dispel the perception that the non-Congress non-BJP platform that is being forged is an opportunistic coming together of power hungry parties with little national appeal.
In the editorial for the forthcoming issue of the party organ, Peoples Democracy , the CPI(M) said while the parties may be regional, they either rule or are in the Opposition in States which together send over 300 members to Parliament. Even if the Asom Gana Parishad and the Biju Janata Dal — two parties which have been associated with the process but were not present at the Tuesday meeting of the leaders of this group in Delhi — stay away, the number of Lok Sabha seats, where the other nine parties in the bloc have a sizable presence, is 265.
The editorial has drawn attention to the fact that the joint declaration issued on Tuesday was in accordance with the understanding that the CPI(M) arrived at in Kozhikode at its 20th Congress in April 2012.
In the political resolution adopted at Kozhikode, the CPI(M) said that it puts forth the Left and democratic alternative against the Congress and the BJP. “Only a Left and democratic platform can be the alternative to bourgeois-landlord rule. This alternative needs to be built up through a process of movements and struggles and the emergence of a political alliance of the Left and democratic forces. In the course of these efforts, it may be necessary to rally those non-Congress, non-BJP forces which can play a role in defence of democracy, national sovereignty, secularism, federalism and defence of the people’s livelihood and rights
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