A sidelight of the trust vote drama in Parliament and outside it was the regrouping of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) under the leadership of Mayawati and with the determined participation of the Left. The new avatar of the Third Front — which has long been a waxing and waning feature of India’s polity — continues to stoke political curiosities. What does this loose grouping of 12 parties — BSP, CPI, CPM, RSP, FB, JD(S), TDP, TRS, RLD, INLD, AGP, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha — really mean for general elections 2009? In other words, what do these parties bring to the table in terms of political clout at the national and state-level, individually and collectively? For the UNPA, as it exists at the time of writing, here is a rough primer:
