The Third Front

Post the UPA wining the trust vote, there is this renewed interest in the Third Front – a rag tag collusion of parties viz., Communists, BSP, Telugu Desam, Janata Dal (S) and more.

The thing that’s funny to me is how the stupid media views them and more so their prospects. An article in the Economic Times had this to say: ‘Third Front to affect BJP’s and Congress’ fortunes’ in the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll.

How, I wonder?

What can a rag tag group, consisting of parties who are largely state-specific, do in a Lok Sabha election? Do you really think Mayawati’s BSP by aligning with TDP could help TDP garner more votes in Andhra Pradesh? Or for that matter, Janata Dal (S) could positively affect the poll outcomes of the Communists in West Bengal?

It’s absolute nonsense to think the Third Front would affect the polls. To paraphrase the brilliant Cho Ramaswamy, political analyst who said – ‘the Third Front has been aptly named. A political force that would end up third – after the BJP and the Congress’!