History has shown that experiments like Third Front have failed miserably, but this time there's hope
In 1977 two parties came together to form Janata Dal and grab power at the Centre. The government fell after socialist leaders questioned dual membership of Bhartiya Jan Sangh leaders. In 1989 they formed a National Front comprising five parties but it suffered a stroke in November 1990 and ultimately died four months later. Seven parties got together in June 1996 to cobble United Front, suffered a stroke in April 1997 and died an untimely death seven months later. On March 12, 2009 ten parties came together once again to create the hype of Third Front (they are yet to find a fancier name for the group) and take another potshot at the government.
One could easily call it the rise of the phoenix or a result of adventurism of Indian politicians and electors, but Third Front is gaining strength with each passing day. The two bigger parties – Congress and BJP – together bagged 283 seats in 2004 elections. This time, there is a distinct possibility that their tally will be drastically reduced and put together won’t reach the halfway mark in 543-member Parliament. That leaves the scope for smaller parties to come together and form a coalition to grab power at the Centre.
Going by the past experiences, coalition of small parties have not been successful. They lack ideological meeting ground, have sky-high ambitions and a sharply defined regional focus. The first two experiments failed on account of ideological clashes erupting only after the coalition came to power, but the last experiment was ideologically still-born, cobbled up only as a marriage of convenience. Partners in the ruling alliance couldn’t agree on the name of its leader and twice it was selected by process of elimination– first it was HD Deve Gowda, euphemistically called Karnataka's Prime Minister and then came IK Gujral, who couldn’t win a seat. Now, Gowda has taken it upon himself a pre-poll alliance bringing together parties as diverse as Mayawati’s BSP and Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK, besides of course four Left parties and two Telugu parties – TDP and TRS – who don’t agree on creation of Telangana state.
AIADMK along with SP, Indian National Lok Dal, National Conference, Telugu Desam Party and a couple of other smaller parties was part of another still-born experiment – United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) formed last year. But, soon Jayalalithaa fell out with SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav over UNPA’s leadership. Other parties too sided either with BJP or the Congress during the Confidence Vote sought by Manmohan Singh government last year.
The new Third Front has already come under fire from various quarters. Congress calls it the “biggest mirage of Indian politics” and BJP expects it to “vanish in thin air after elections” as most of its constituents would either go with the BJP or the Congress and SP leader Amar Singh fails to distinguish seculars from the “communal” among constituents of the new front.
But, political analysts feel the new Third Front can’t be taken lightly. They expect a “political mayhem” as declaration of results would be followed by vigorous pursuing of smaller parties by the bigger parties/alliances. “It is going to be really dirty and elected MPs and their parties would be more demanding than ever,” is how a BJP general secretary puts it. In case, it gets support from fence sitters like Biju Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and Janata Dal (United), it could take on the two established alliance. Everything will depend as much on the outcome of next elections as on whether they have learnt their lessons from the three earlier experiments.
In 1977 two parties came together to form Janata Dal and grab power at the Centre. The government fell after socialist leaders questioned dual membership of Bhartiya Jan Sangh leaders. In 1989 they formed a National Front comprising five parties but it suffered a stroke in November 1990 and ultimately died four months later. Seven parties got together in June 1996 to cobble United Front, suffered a stroke in April 1997 and died an untimely death seven months later. On March 12, 2009 ten parties came together once again to create the hype of Third Front (they are yet to find a fancier name for the group) and take another potshot at the government.
One could easily call it the rise of the phoenix or a result of adventurism of Indian politicians and electors, but Third Front is gaining strength with each passing day. The two bigger parties – Congress and BJP – together bagged 283 seats in 2004 elections. This time, there is a distinct possibility that their tally will be drastically reduced and put together won’t reach the halfway mark in 543-member Parliament. That leaves the scope for smaller parties to come together and form a coalition to grab power at the Centre.
Going by the past experiences, coalition of small parties have not been successful. They lack ideological meeting ground, have sky-high ambitions and a sharply defined regional focus. The first two experiments failed on account of ideological clashes erupting only after the coalition came to power, but the last experiment was ideologically still-born, cobbled up only as a marriage of convenience. Partners in the ruling alliance couldn’t agree on the name of its leader and twice it was selected by process of elimination– first it was HD Deve Gowda, euphemistically called Karnataka's Prime Minister and then came IK Gujral, who couldn’t win a seat. Now, Gowda has taken it upon himself a pre-poll alliance bringing together parties as diverse as Mayawati’s BSP and Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK, besides of course four Left parties and two Telugu parties – TDP and TRS – who don’t agree on creation of Telangana state.
AIADMK along with SP, Indian National Lok Dal, National Conference, Telugu Desam Party and a couple of other smaller parties was part of another still-born experiment – United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) formed last year. But, soon Jayalalithaa fell out with SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav over UNPA’s leadership. Other parties too sided either with BJP or the Congress during the Confidence Vote sought by Manmohan Singh government last year.
The new Third Front has already come under fire from various quarters. Congress calls it the “biggest mirage of Indian politics” and BJP expects it to “vanish in thin air after elections” as most of its constituents would either go with the BJP or the Congress and SP leader Amar Singh fails to distinguish seculars from the “communal” among constituents of the new front.
But, political analysts feel the new Third Front can’t be taken lightly. They expect a “political mayhem” as declaration of results would be followed by vigorous pursuing of smaller parties by the bigger parties/alliances. “It is going to be really dirty and elected MPs and their parties would be more demanding than ever,” is how a BJP general secretary puts it. In case, it gets support from fence sitters like Biju Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and Janata Dal (United), it could take on the two established alliance. Everything will depend as much on the outcome of next elections as on whether they have learnt their lessons from the three earlier experiments.
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