Natwar says 3rd Front to remain after polls, target Rajasthan

The Third Front that has come forward in support of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh seems set to become a new political reality at the national level.

The Third Front that has come forward in support of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh seems set to become a new political reality at the national level. Irrespective of its impact on the state elections, Front’s leaders have decided to meet in Tirupati and Chennai in the near future to formulate their role and strategy.

According to former foreign minister Natwar Singh, similar political equations as in the present polls in Uttar Pradesh will arise in Rajasthan and the Front will play a major role when the state goes to polls scheduled in September/October 2008.

Seeking support from different states, Mulayam has managed to bring four former chief ministers on one platform for the first time in the state elections. Leaders of different parties, including J Jayalalithaa, S Bangarappa, Chandrababu Naidu, Om Prakash Chautala and even Vrindavan Goswami of Asom Gana Parishad, have been campaigning for the UP Chief Minister. In the two meetings held at Bareilly on April 8 and in Allahabad on April 23, these leaders expressed solidarity and projected a possibility of a Third Front.

Story continues below this ad

Talking to The Indian Express on Tuesday on the Front’s prospects, Natwar Singh, who has been campaigning extensively for the SP, said it would not fizzle out after the Assembly polls. “We will be meeting again in Tirupati and Chennai to discuss the outcome of our two meetings in UP, irrespective of the outcome of the polls under way.”

But the poll results, he said, would certainly change the politics of the country in case Mulayam Singh Yadav comes back to power. Admitting that it would be a hung Assembly, he said no one was untouchable in politics and Mulayam would gauge the equations before going for a truck with any party.

He, however, ruled out the speculation of Mulayam going for a post-poll understanding with the BJP. “The whole plank of Mulayam’s party is secularism and if he joins hands with the BJP it would be the worst move for his party.”

‘No going back to Cong’

Natwar Singh believes that the country does require a strong Congress party to take the nation forward. “Even party leaders keep having serious debates on the issue,” he says. But Singh has also clarified that “he will not go back to the party as party chief Sonia Gandhi has made a few statements that were unacceptable to him.”