Back to Front

A Third Front by any other name, indeed a Third Front that refuses to name itself, is still a Third Front. So the 8216;non-Congress, non-BJP8217; alternative that was born but not baptised in Chandrababu Naidu8217;s residence carries exactly the same political genetic defects as all its previous incarnations, with one crucial difference. This time, unlike almost any time in the recent past, the political infant has not received the Left8217;s blessings, not even indirect ones. Remember it was only last year that the Left was rather excitedly speculating about a Third Front, and tried out an experiment in Assam. Apart from encouraging some sectarian political wannabes, that experiment achieved nothing. Since then, political developments, culminating in Mulayam Singh Yadav8217;s loss of power and the Left8217;s own loss of even the minimal influence it had in states like Punjab and UP, have sobered up the CPM.

Prakash Karat8217;s party faces anti-incumbency in Kerala and a fair amount of intra-party upheaval in that state as well as in Bengal. The CPM has to guard its base. Under these circumstances, to de facto be a part of ruling set-up in Delhi is far better than being a part of an impossibly variegated political arrangement. All the leaders of the front that is not yet a Third Front must interpret the Left8217;s decision as a low valuation of their enterprise. If the Left thinks squeezing out the Congress and the BJP is not a practicable idea now, it should more or less be a damning verdict, given how keen the Marxists are to construct a third political pole.

As for the new front8217;s politics, Naidu 038; Co will have to forgive us if we fail to be sufficiently alarmed by their opposition to the nuclear deal or by their call for alternative economic policies. We duly note though that they have enough votes in the presidential electoral college to be considered a player. This simply tells the BJP and the Congress how ridiculously vulnerable they can be to small players when it comes to big national questions like choosing a president. Both parties want their politician to become the head of state and while this may seem rational given party-political calculations, it seems irrational when contrasted with the composition of the electoral college. And it demonstrates yet again how crucial it is that the two big parties increase their electoral presence in the country.