Pitted against the Congress in their home states and disenchanted with the conflict-ridden BJP’s ‘‘back to Hindutva’’ line, a number of regional parties have decided to work together and are planning a ‘‘Regional Parties’ Convention’’ later this year, highly placed sources said. The idea, still at a nascent stage, got a major fillip today with Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu—currently in the capital—holding separate meetings with AGP president Brindaban Goswami, Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala, and Akali Dal leaders S S Dhindsa and Sukhbir Badal. He is slated to meet National Conference president Omar Abdullah tomorrow morning. Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh also met Naidu although the SP is not an ex-NDA outfit, sources said. The decision was taken once the TDP decided to formally break ties with the NDA earlier this year. The TDP, which feels it lost a significant chunk of the 12 per cent minority vote in Andhra Pradesh because of its alliance with the BJP, decided not to have even floor-coordination with the party from the Monsoon Session onwards. But significantly, it is not just ex-NDA members such as AGP, INLD and National Conference but even existing members like Akali Dal and UPA supporter Samajwadi Party who are attracted by the prospective regional forum. The main idea behind the grouping, sources said, was to give a ‘‘voice’’ to the regional parties who play a significant role but do not get heard in the Congress-BJP-Left din. ‘‘We need to help each other, both inside and outside Parliament and speak with one voice on the similar problems we face,’’ was the repeated refrain in today’s series of meetings, it is learnt. The group is still too tentative to be called a Third Front but the same anti-Congress, anti-BJP sentiment that brought regional players to the centre-stage in the mid-1990s appears to be propelling the participants. The one big difference is that the Left parties, which had played a crucial role in providing the ideological ballast to the United Front in 1996 and the People’s Front in 1998, are now backing the UPA. But if the Left-Congress gulf widens, they, too, could join hands with the regional parties at some future date. The CPI(M), following its 18th Congress this April, reiterated the need to work towards a ‘‘Third Alternative’’. Although a programmatic ‘‘third alternative’’ is different from an electoral ‘‘Third Front,’’ the latter option could become attractive to sections of the Left who remain squeamish about a long-term alliance with the Congress. For the moment, though, the regional parties are taking one step at a time and the first step is to disengage themselves from the BJP’s embrace. But the grouping is, at present, fluid enough to allow players to retain their existing loyalties. For instance, the Akali Dal does not have to walk out of the NDA to be part of the regional forum in the making. While TDP, AGP, INLD and National Conference—all of whom quit the NDA either before or soon after the 2004 elections—will form the nucleus, other regional parties who are part of the NDA or UPA may also be welcomed to take up ‘‘specific issues’’ affecting the regional parties. In fact, today’s ‘‘exploratory’’ meetings only held preliminary discussions on what type of convention should be held and who should be among the invitees. It will take several more meetings before the idea is given concrete shape, sources said. A senior leader who did not wish to be named said the participants would underline two central themes: regional aspirations and secularism. The theme of secularism is particularly important for Telugu Desam and National Conference who are getting restive given the present tug-of-war in the BJP where the Sangh seems to be strengthening its grip. Chandrababu Naidu, for instance, told a press conference on Monday that Narendra Modi must step down if the Nanavati Commission report on the Gujarat riots even indirectly indicted him. More such voices could be raised—especially from the Janata Dal (United)—if the BJP persists with its Hindutva line, regional leaders feel.
