Third Front's "consensus" PM candidate after polls: Gowda

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, a key force behind cobbling up of the Third Front, said today the new grouping would come out with a "consensus" Prime Ministerial candidate once the Lok Sabha election results are out.

The JDS supremo reiterated that the Third Front is not projecting any leader as its Prime Ministerial candidate before the elections.

"Once election results come out, we are going to sit across the table and work out a consensus candidate", he told reporters here.

Gowda indicated that the Third Front has shelved plans to come out with a national policy document to avoid possible conflict with manifestos of individual parties in the grouping.

Instead, similar to what NDA and the UPA did after their governments came into being in 1999 and 2004, respectively, the Third Front would come out with its common minimum programme after the Lok Sabha elections, he said.

Asked if Lalu Yadav's RJD and Ramvilas Paswan's LJP which have cornered a lion's share of seats in Bihar leaving a mere three for the Congress which has termed the deal "unacceptable", is welcome to join the Third Front, Devegowda said the new grouping has already met and been formed.

Without naming any outfit, he added that some parties who are now showing interest to break away from UPA and NDA might be doing so to drive a "bargain for more seats" with their respective combination.

He also refused to comment on CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat's statement that the Congress could help it form an alternative secular government after the elections, saying he does not know in what context the CPI(M) leader made it.

Deve Gowda also said the leaders of the new amalgamation, now being referred to as the Third Front, are yet to give a name to the formation.