18 parties stitch up Third Front in Maharashtra

In 2009, the Third Front had 14 parties, including students’ alliance and tribal rights groups.

Undeterred by its poor show in the last Assembly elections, the Third Front has decided to contest all the 288 seats in the state. The third alliance this time has been formed by 18 parties, including the Left and other smaller parties. Vikas Takavane filed his nomination from the Daund Assembly constituency of Pune district. Party leaders said they would field candidates from other seats in the district as well.

In 2009, the Third Front had 14 parties, including students’ alliance and tribal rights groups. The major constituents were the three left parties — Peasants Workers Party (PWP), CPM, CPI. Apart from them, the Swabhimani Party of Raju Shetti, Surajya Paksha, Republican Party of India (Athawale group) and others smaller parties formed the alliance. The third alliance had fought all the seats but managed to win only 18.

While the Swabhimani Party and RPI (A) are going with the BJP this time, parties like Surajya Paksha, Lal Nishan Party, OBC Seva Sangh, Satyashodkar OBC Parishad and other parties have joined the Third Front. Anandraj Ambedkar, leader of the Republican Sena, has also joined the third front.

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While talking about the Third Front, PWP MLC Jayant Patil said the Modi wave was responsible for NDA’s sweep in the Lok Sabha polls. “The wave has since receeded and we are confident people are looking for a credible option in Maharashtra,” he said. When asked about the poor show of the third front in the state, Patil said he was hopeful that this time they would be able to get more MLAs. “The voteshares of the constituents always remained constant. The addition of other parties will help us emerge as a successful alliance,” he added.

The Third Front’s constituents like PWP and Surajya Party had managed to win seats in their respective areas. Apart from the major parties, the minor constituents were unable to draw much votes. After the 2009 polls, several parties and MLAs had, however, joined the BJP and the NCP.

Ambedkar said the third front was the need of the hour as the Congress- NCP alliance had cheated the people of the state.

Parthasarathi Biswas

Partha Sarathi Biwas is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express with 10+ years of experience in reporting on Agriculture, Commodities and Developmental issues. He has been with The Indian Express since 2011 and earlier worked with DNA. Partha's report about Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) as well long pieces on various agricultural issues have been cited by various academic publications including those published by the Government of India. He is often invited as a visiting faculty to various schools of journalism to talk about development journalism and rural reporting. In his spare time Partha trains for marathons and has participated in multiple marathons and half marathons. ... Read More

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