Letters: A Third Front experiment

This refers to A Seshan's letter "Irrational Third Front" (June 24). The Janata Dal (United) under Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should galvanise all like-minded regional forces who believe in equidistance from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress to merge their identities and form a real Third Front under one umbrella. A new party must, thus, unfold to provide a viable alternative. There is surely no harm in once again trying former Prime Minister V P Singh's experiment of the 1990s, when a new party received massive mass appeal. Back then, the National Front coalition's "junior" ally BJP brought down the government on Mandal and Mandir politics, and voted with the Congress during a no-confidence motion in Parliament. When the BJP was in power for six years, it did nothing to clean its violent image formed during the Babri Masjid episode. This breach of trust by the BJP - stabbing a well-intentioned government - paved the way for corrupt people to return.

Chandra Shekhar Kabra Varanasi

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