Unity in adversity

The announcement of a new front by Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Kanshi Ram and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav is unlikely to c...

The announcement of a new front by Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Kanshi Ram and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav is unlikely to cause much impact. Apart from the duo, the other leaders who have joined hands to form the much-trumpeted third front have neither much to brag about themselves nor wield any influence worth the name.

Laloo had already roped in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Soren to fight the BJP-Samata combine in South Bihar where the latter had done well in the last Lok Sabha elections. In his calculation, a tie-up with Kanshi Ram8217;s BSP may boost the sagging morale of his RJD though the BSP is yet to open its electoral account in the state. And beyond the boundaries of Bihar, the front partners are hardly in a position to alter the electoral situation. Laloo himself has little to offer Kanshi in the BSP8217;s stronghold of Uttar Pradesh as had been borne out in the last Lok Sabha elections when the Bihar strongman vigorously campaigned in vain in the state. Neither Laloo nor Kanshi can do much to bail out the beleaguered Shankarsinh Vaghela in Gujarat. As for the other authors of the new secular script 8212; Chandra Shekhar of the Samajwadi Janata Party and P. Radhakrishnan of the Jai Telangana Party 8212; they are essentially leaders perpetually on the lookout for followers.

Now that the new front, which has been formed with the ostensible intent of combating and checking the BJP8217;s onward roll, has taken off, it remains to be seen where it will land. The front appears more like a get-together of politicians about to be marginalised in their own fiefdoms. The studied silence of Congress President Sitaram Kesri and Lok Shakti chief R. K. Hegde over their attitude towards the new front indicates that they are not overly confident of its effectiveness and viability. Hegde is still negotiating for better terms with both the Congress and the BJP and the former would also not like to burn its bridges with the United Front constituents, some of which like the Samajwadi Party are not averse to a tacit electoral understanding with it on a seat-to-seat basis in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Even Bharatiya Kisan Kamgar Party chief Ajit Singh would have given the new platform some additional strength, at least in western Uttar Pradesh. But realising that his Jat following may revolt if he aligned with a Jatav-dominated BSP, Singh has opted to keep away.

The Jan Morcha leaders8217; avowed resolve to keep the BJP on the leash notwithstanding, its very formation is likely to help the so-called communal forces by dividing the anti-BJP votes. BSP leader Kanshi Ram8217;s ambivalent attitude towards the BJP further complicates the scenario. His assertion that the BSP can go to any length, even form a government with BJP support, to make the Bahujan Samaj the rulers of the country shows that he cannot be trusted. It is probable that his keenness to limit the BJP8217;s seats in the next Lok Sabha is prompted by a desire for yet another hung Parliament. The Hindutva party may then be forced to turn to him again. This is hardly the foundation on which a secular front can be built.