Roundup: Indian regional parties trying to cobble Third Front ahead of next year's general elections

NEW DELHI, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Indian regional parties are desperately trying to cobble together a Third Front ahead of next year's general elections, even as the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is displaying stellar show by bagging one state after the other.

Third Front in Indian politics refers to various alliances formed by smaller parties to offer a third option to Indian voters, challenging the BJP and Congress, the two major parties.

The first call for a Third Front as an alternative to both the BJP and the main opposition Congress party came from the southern state of Telangana's Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, also the head of regional Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) party, on Saturday.

"No qualitative change could be seen by people even after 70 years of democratic exercise. This is unfortunate. People are vexed now. Even if tomorrow Congress comes to power, nothing will change," Rao told the media.

"The country has to move in new direction. People should think about it otherwise we will remain the same," he added.

The 64-year-old TRS chief, who spearheaded the movement for a separate Telangana state that was finally carved out of Andhra Pradesh state, said that "a new alliance of political parties, barring the Congress and the BJP, will emerge soon, probably before the next general election".

"It is not going to be the third front, but will be the main front," he said, asserting that he was ready to lead the new front and play a key role in national politics.

Other so-called like-minded regional parties -- mainly eastern state of West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and former Chief Minister of eastern state of Jharkhand Hemant Soren -- were quick to cash in on the Telangana Chief Minister's call for a Third Front.

Banerjee, also the head of regional Trinamool Congress party and a staunch critic of BJP, called up Rao to extend her support. "I am in agreement with you. I will work with you," she told her Telangana counterpart over the phone from state capital Kolkata.

Soren, the leader of regional Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, also expressed his solidarity with Rao during a telephonic conversation.

A little-known Muslim party based in the southern city of Hyderabad, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, also extended its support.

But political analysts say Third Front is hardly an alternative to the BJP or the Congress.

Between 1996 and 1998, United Front (sort of Third Front) formed governments twice after 13 small parties, including Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party, DMK, and Communist parties, came together to fill in the political vacuum then following a hung Parliament.

"But twice the United Front governments -- once led by Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and subsequently by I.K. Gujral -- collapsed, triggering the need for fresh elections. Either the BJP or Congress can give a stable government in India," said Ajay Sharma, a former political science professor at Delhi University. Enditem