Whether it's khichri or biryani time will tell but the putative anti-BJP, anti-Congress front is here
The clamour for an anti-BJP front has revived in the light of perceived anti-incumbency against the ruling dispensation. In the race to helm the move to tame the emergence of the saffron party, however, are two competing Opposition proto alliances. Holding the torch of tradition aloft is the Congress-led Opposition and how that plays out remains to be seen. What interests us here, however, is the second player in the fray, a self-avowed non-Congress, non-BJP Opposition, made up of regional parties having strong leaders who want to not just make it to the top job but also have nationally provincial ambitions, as it were.
The recent dominance of the BJP and the inability of the Congress to fulfill the role of an effective pan-India Opposition has led to the regrouping of these parties. Never mind their political differences or more importantly their (respective) State-centric vision, they have the numbers in Parliament even today to ensure no legislative business is conducted if they decide to be obstructionist. In fact, the progenitors of this Third Front, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), put together have more MPs in the lok Sabha than the Congress. Prospective constituents of this Third Front include the Biju Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, DMK, the Communist parties, National Conference, Nationalist Congress Party and smaller outfits including Muslim parties such as the AUDF and IUMl. Current and erstwhile NDA constituents such as the Telegu Desam Party, Shiv Sena, PDP and, according to some, even the JD-U, may be tempted to sign up in case of a hung Parliament. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which though in alliance with the Congress for now, may also be persuaded to join the front. Forget about a leader or a cohesive program; these are all parties fighting for their survival which they know can only come if they form one pole of a bi-polar polity in their respective States with an expanding BJP as their main opponent. Where that leaves the Congress, which is the main opposition to the BJP only in a handful of big States including Punjab, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Assam is moot. Rahul Gandhi would be well-advised to steer clear of supporting such a bits-and-pieces prospective alliance if he harbours any serious hope of the Congress' revival as a pan-India political entity.