With Amma visiting, parties announce birth of Third Front

The first steps towards the much-talked about non-Congress, non-BJP Third Front appeared to be taking shape today with five prominent regional parties joining hands and pitching for a political alternative.

The first steps towards the much-talked about non-Congress, non-BJP Third Front appeared to be taking shape today with five prominent regional parties joining hands and pitching for a political alternative.

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, TDP8217;s Chandrababu Naidu, AIADMK President J Jayalalithaa, INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala and AGP leader Brindavan Goswami, who addressed an election rally here in support of Mulayam Singh Yadav, announced their plans to forge a Third Front to challenge 8220;communalist BJP8221; and 8220;corruption-ridden Congress8221;.

While Jayalalithaa said a Third Front was a necessity and it could be formed, Naidu indicated it will take a definite shape after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Significantly, suspended Congress leader and former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh shared the dais with other leaders and lashed out at the UPA government8217;s foreign policy and targeted party chief Sonia Gandhi for remaining silent on the execution of former Iraq President Saddam Hussein, who he referred to as 8220;India8217;s friend8221;.

Addressing a rally for the first time in Hindi in her 28-year-long political career, the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister trained guns at Gandhi on the Quattrocchi issue and criticised the government for not taking steps for bringing the Italian arms dealer to India.

The AIADMK chief alleged that when Quattrocchi was arrested in a foreign country, the government did not make any efforts to bring him back to India to face trial in the Bofors case. 8220;The Congress is making a big issue out of the law and order situation in UP, whereas security personnel are being attacked on a regular basis in Chhattisgarh and Hindi-speaking people are being targeted in Congress-ruled Assam,8221; she said.

Jayalalithaa criticised Sonia Gandhi for joining hands with the DMK, saying, 8220;Sonia Gandhi had described the DMK as her husband8217;s killers. This is enough to question her credentials.8221;

Almost all the leaders attacked Congress young turk Rahul Gandhi with Jayalalithaa criticising him for his remarks on late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, saying he did not know Indian culture which does not believe in talking ill about people who are no more.

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Mulayam Singh criticised the BJP, BSP and Congress and rained sops on the electorate that included free education, free medical care, free irrigation and employment for all qualified youth in the state.

8220;The BJP, the BSP and the Congress have not even announced their chief ministerial candidates and this shows that they are not confident of victory in UP,8221; he said.

Naidu said while the Congress was trying to garner Muslim votes by raking up the Babri Masjid demolition issue and the creation of Bangladesh, BJP was resorting to communal politics.

8220;The need of the hour is to oust BJP which is playing the communal card and the opportunist Congress,8221; he said, while addressing the rally at the K P College ground here.