New Delhi, April 6
The Samajwadi Party and the Telegu Desam announced today the formation of a third front opposed to the Congress and the BJP aimed at fresh realignment of political forces.
While issuing a vieled threat to the Congress about continued support of the SP to the UPA coalition arrangement at the Centre, both Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and TDP supremo Nara Chandrababu Naidu were confident that the Left parties would join the Third Front, thereby providing a national alternative to the two main political formations.
The need for a third front assumed urgency following Leader of the Opposition L K Advani's observation that the BJP and the Congress could make common cause.
Impartial observers here described it as an interesting development even though the Left has been submitting that creation of a third front minus the Congress and the BJP at this juncture is premature. Nevertheless, the ball should start rolling after the Assembly elections in five states.
"We will wait for the outcome of the ongoing Assembly elections where the Congress will be routed," stressed Mr Yadav and Mr Naidu at a joint press conference here.
They said their respective parties along with the AIADMK, the AGP and the National Conference would be working together to forge a national alternative through a long-term understanding.
"We will work together with a clear- cut agenda," Mr Naidu observed , side- stepping questions as who would lead the third alternative.
Both Mr Yadav and Mr Naidu launched a
scathing attack on the Congress. They singled out Congress President Sonia Gandhi for criticism. Mr Yadav said that the SP would certainly put up a candidate against her in the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha byelection scheduled for May 8.
Mr Yadav claimed that the SP enjoyed strong support in Rae Bareli as it had a majority in four Assembly segments of the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency. "It is all a drama to say that Mrs Gandhi has made a sacrifice. She targeted the SP and became a target herself. She resigned as she was bound to be disqualified."
Asked about the attitude of the Left parties, Mr Yadav stressed that the Left had always been very supportive of any anti-Congress, anti-BJP move.
Mr Yadav and Mr Naidu parried questions about which other parties they were talking to and how many were allies of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. "We are not talking to the UPA or NDA partners," they claimed.
Mr Naidu found it embarrassing when asked if his party had snapped its ties with the NDA and how could he talk of secularism now after having been close to the saffron brigade till recently.
