Socialists' bid to revive Third Front

Amar Singh, Sharad Yadav's nominee attend Diwali lunch hosted by Fernandes

A quiet Diwali lunch hosted by Defence Minister and Samata Party chief George Fernandes last week is being seen as an attempt to resurrect the Third Front on the anti-Congress plank.

The lunch was attended by Amar Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's lieutenant, and KC Tyagi, an associate of Union Food Minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav.

Former Union Communications Minister Ramvilas Paswan was in touch with the emerging group and could return to this fold, possibly even the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), sources said.

The meeting is believed to be an exercise by the Socialist leaders to revive the anti-Congressism as a poll plank before the Lok Sabha elections.

"This was in sequel to the lunch hosted by Sharad Yadav to unite Janata Dal factions and the Samata Party," said a leader who also attended the meeting.

The strategy of the Socialist groups was to further marginalise the Congress and emerge as a powerful political block after getting together, sources said.

At the same time, the Socialist parties owing allegiance to the NDA are averse to steps that may scuttle the prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"Efforts are aimed at marginalising the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress," sources said.

This development could aid the development of the Third Front with not so subtle encouragement by the NDA. Any third front will eat into the Congress votes and underscore the anti-Congressism.

For leaders like Paswan, the choice is tough. While he is fighting Laloo Prasad Yadav in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader is an all-weather ally of the Congress.

Paswan is finding it tough to choose between the secularism of the non-BJP parties and the Laloo Yadav-sponsored secularism of the Congress.

That Mulayam Singh Yadav has joined the bandwagon is significant. Yadav's remarks about the "secular credentials" of the Congress has fuelled doubts in the Congress about him and how much to trust him.

Talking to Business Standard last week, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh had hit out at "secular inspectors" in the Congress, who were quick to award certification but did not examine their own thinking deeply enough. He was referring to reported remarks of Congress leader Arjun Singh in Lucknow.

This was followed by Yadav expressing doubts about the secular policies of the new Congress leadership. Yadav also dismissed the possibility of a pre-poll alliance with the Congress.

Congress sources said Yadav's remarks had confirmed the fear expressed by Salman Khursheed that Yadav would thrive politically at the expense of the Congress.

Sources close to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, however, said Yadav's tactics of maintaining an equal distance with the Congress and the BJP was calculated to occupy an important space in the national politics.

In Yadav's calculation, the next Lok Sabha elections can only produce a hung House where the Samajwadi Party with even 40 MPs could play a decisive role.

"Then Yadav could also be a choice for the prime minister's post," said a senior Samajwadi Party leader.

Given the Samajwadi Party chief's penchant for holding onto his Muslim-Yadav support base, Yadav's reaction to the Congress is being seen as natural in Uttar Pradesh's context.

A close associate of the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said it would be absurd to think that Yadav would allow the Congress to snatch from him the "secular plank" and win over Muslims who were about 14 per cent of the state's population. "Yadav's reaction must be seen in this light," he said.