They may not join hands to contest the election together or spare even a single seat for each other, but ten regional players and four left parties came together in Delhi on Wednesday in a futile exercise to project themselves as a national alternative post the 2014 lok Sabha polls.
The gathering of anti-Congress and anti-BJP forces here turned out to be a’BJP-RSS’ bashing exercise. The conclave chose to give issues like corruption and inflation a miss, but raised the bogey of communalism.
At the ‘Convention for People’s Unity and Against Communalism’ piloted by the left Front and JD(U), leaders from different States steered clear of the ‘Third Front’ issue, but laid bare their intentions to pitch for ‘maximum possible unity’ amongst them to defeat the ‘threat’ from fascists and communal forces. The presence of National Congress Party, an ally of the ruling UPA, at the convention raised quite a few eyebrows.
“It is necessary for secular and democratic forces to jointly counter communal forces of all varieties and maintain people’s unity. This convention calls upon the secular and democratic forces to strengthen their efforts amongst the people and mobilize them for rebuffing communal forces, preserve communal amity, defend our composite culture and strengthen the unity of the people,” reads the resolution adopted at the convention.
Prominent among those present at the convention were Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury, Nationalist Congress Party’s DP Tripathi, Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Deve Gowda, AIADMK MP
M Thambidurai, CPI’s AB Bardhan, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha’s Babulal Marandi, Bijayant Jay Panda of Biju Janata Dal, Prafulla Mahanta of Asom Gana Parishad, Manpreet Singh Badal of Punjab based-PPP and others.
In attacking BJP and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, major speakers at the event made a full display of their desperation. Nitish Kumar who faces a stiff challenge from the BJP in Bihar, focused his speech entirely on Modi.
“The question being asked is that if this convention means formation of a new front. As of today, this is not the case. But we all have to think that in the face of fascism, communalism and terrorism, democratic forces should maintain maximum possible unity on issues to combat and defeat such powers,” the Bihar Chief Minister said.
Conscious of the pitfalls of forming a front, he said while pointing to the leaders: “You know while getting together one or the other leader gets lost. I am talking of whatever unity is possible, maximum possible.”
Similarly, Mulayam spoke at length about the rise of “communal forces” in Uttar Pradesh and how they succeeded in Muzaffarnagar. “At least we got together (on the same platform). If we unite, communal forces will not be able to raise their heads. We have crushed communal forces and we will continue to crush communal forces whenever they rear their heads again,” he said.
His Chief Minister son Akhilesh Yadav had faced flak for “appeasement” of a section of society in the aftermath of the recent Muzaffarnagar riots, which is believed to have resulted into a strong mobilization of Jats in favour of the BJP. Mulayam’s cousin Ram Gopal Yadav said the meeting was a “beginning” for the shape of things to come in the future.
The left has its agenda to raise the secular-communal debate. The left Front is caught in a battle with ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, which is aggressively playing to the minority gallery in the Eastern State. With no sign of erosion in Mamata Banerjee’s vote base, the left front is desperate to woo the minorities to contain her march. “The RSS and the BJP pose a serious challenge to society. We need to stop them. This country has to remain secular,” Prakash Karat said.
These leaders predictably targeted the BJP and the RSS, but NCP’s decision to share the dais with ‘Third Front’ players created a lot of stir. NCP leader Praful Patel justified his party’s participation in the convention, saying: “In the era of coalition politics, we have to keep our options of working with other parties, open.”
The Congress downplayed the issue of its ally NCP taking part in the convention against communalism and hoped that their coming together would help counter Narendra Modi and sharpen political discourse on the secular-communal divide.
“Our alliance with his (Sharad Pawar’s) party is in Maharashtra and at the Centre. In other States, they fight their political battles separately. His party has its own rights. We have full respect for what they do,” Congress spokesman Raj Babbar said.
Having backed the idea of the Federal Front, the Trinamool Congress, also attacked the left Front for the convention. “Wherever there is CPI(M) they will spoil everything. They should first try to manage their own party before trying to organise a front,” TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said in Kolkata. He refused to comment on Mamata Banerjee’s Federal Front idea.
Incidentally, leaders of RJD and lJP were not present at the convention, which showed they were keen to do business with the Congress. TDP’s absence reflected Chandra Babu Naidu’s growing proximity with the NDA.