13 March,2009 04:42 PM IST | | MiD DAY Correspondent
The much talked about launch of the Third Front finally took place before a five lakh-strong crowd at Dobbaspet, a small town 50 km from the IT capital yesterday.u00a0
The biggest names of the Third Front, Prakash Karat (CPI-M), A B Bardhan (CPI), Chandrababu Naidu (TDP) and JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda, shared the stage. But, several top leaders were missing at the launch. BSP chief Mayawati, who has been projected as a possible prime ministerial candidate of the front, sent her senior party leader Satish Mishra in her place. AIADMK chief Jayalalitha, too, skipped the rally and sent her party leader, Maithreyan. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti was represented by party chief K Chandrashekhar Rao's son, T Rama Rao.
The common refrain of the leaders was that both the BJP and Congress had failed to deliver during their tenures as they had similar policies when it came to economic development. They promised to bring about a federal system in the country by giving greater financial powers to the states, a national document detailing its policies on the economic and related fronts and waiver of all farm loans besides providing a stable and viable alternative to the Congress and the BJP at the Centre.
So, will the Third Front change the political equations and emerge as a force to reckon with?u00a0
Sathyanarayan K, noted journalist and political analyst, said, "Considering the developments and the current political scenario, the third front simply means nothing. Janata Dal (S), which is one of the leading parties in the Third Front cannot expect any benefit from the left parties as the latter are themselves very weak. Therefore, I see no major changes in the electoral system. Deve Gowda used this occasion to trumpet his sons Kumaraswamy's entry to national politics and attack the BJP government in the state while BSP, AIADMK, CPM and the others are using the third front to deny entry of other parties to their domain."
"The parties of the third front will contest the polls on their own symbols and from their respective partiesu00a0and not as Third Front. The so-called anchors of all the parties of the third front have their own agendas. So after the results, the parties can choose their own way and align with other major parties for power or other benefits," he added.
When asked how many seats the Third Front would be able to win this time, JD(S) spokesperson Y S V Datta, said, "It's too early to talk about the seats the third may win or other number games. Our main agenda is to keep both the Congress and the BJP at bay.u00a0All the regional parties have come together because the country needs a new alternative. We're confident that the third front will rise from the ashes and emerge as a force to reckon with."
V N Subba Rao, political analyst, opined that the political situation was fluid and it's too early to talk about the impact of the Third Front. "Just anything can happen in politics. No party has any kind of loyalty to another. The third front has failed miserably in its previous attempts. They could not provide any kind of stability to the government in 1996. However, the Third Front, going by the present trend, may just bag 100-120 seats and can't go beyond that. These figures will certainly not help themu00a0to change the present equations. But let's see what'll happen. I too am playing the waiting game like you all," he said.
"But Deve Gowda has made a very clever move. The launch of the Third Front will immensely help in the process of reviving the JD(S) in the state. And it also serves as a perfect platform for his son to take a plunge into national politics," he added.u00a0
The main rivals of the Third Front, Congress and BJP, however, said the new alliance would hardly make any difference during the coming Lok Sabha elections. The Congress leaders said that the Third Front was not a threat to the UPA (United Progressive Alliance). They also said that they were only for power and the alliance would not continue for long.u00a0
