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The anti-communalism convention, to be held on October 30 here, has already generated a buzz in the political circles. At least 11 non-Congress and non-BJP parties from across the country are attending the meet organised by the Left Front, virtually turning it into a political platform, potent enough to become a third alternative after the polls.
“A third front or even a loose coalition of like-minded parties is not possible before the elections because each one of these parties wants to keep its options open and doesn’t want an electoral alliance. Mulayam Singh is now only bothered about Uttar Pradesh and Jayalalithaa is only looking at Tamil Nadu. In this situation, we cannot have a third front now,” explained a senior leader.
Apart from the Left Front, led by CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, CPI’s Sudhakar Reddy, RSP and Forward Bloc leaders, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh are expected to attend the convention.
“Sharad Yadav has confirmed his presence. We expect Nitish Kumar also to be there,” said one of the organisers. The Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, is expected to send his Parliamentary party leader Arjun Sethi. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has already written to Karat deputing the AIADMK Parliamentary party leader M. Thambidurai to the meeting.
Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda’s JD (S), Babulal Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Manch and Prakash Ambedkar’s RPI are the other parties attending the meeting organised to protest the Muzaffarnagar riots and other recent communal incidents in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.
CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury, litterateur UR Anantamurthy, dancer Mallika Sarabhai and renowned film maker Shyam Benegal are all part of the organising committee, along with the Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav, JD (U)’s KC Tyagi and CPI’s Amarjeet Kaur.
A convention of non-Congress and non-BJP parties ahead of the polls is no alternative to an electoral understanding.
But in the absence of a grand alliance, this group can emerge as a nucleus for a third alternative in case of a hung Parliament.
>rajesh.ramachandran@thehindu.co.in
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