Congress, BJP dub Third Front as mirage, myth

In fact, leaders of both the Congress and the BJP say the possibility of formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP front to takeover power at the Centre is not only dim but also non-existent.

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohan Singh, however, feels that the prospects of such a front were "good". At the same time, he insists that much needs to be done in this direction as fronts do not take shape overnight.

His remarks came after SP chief Yadav staged a dharna at the main entrance of Parliament building on Friday along with leaders from CPI, CPI-M, RSP, Forward Bloc and TDP.

But Manish Tewari of the Congress is on a different wavelength. "The Third Front is the most enduring mirage in Indian politics," he says bluntly.

Echoing him, BJP's Prakash Javadekar dubs the idea of the Third Front "as a myth and an illusion".

D P Tripathi of the NCP feels that too much should not be read into Mulayam opening a new front against the government by joining hands with Left parties and TDP to demand a judicial probe into allocation of coal blocks and cancellation of licenses.

JD-U's Shivanand Tiwari also sees no scope for a Third Front and feels the exercise done by Mulayam in association with the Left parties as essentially a move to "blunt the edge" of the NDA protest on CAG report on coal. MORE