Clear picture on Third Front in 2 days

Bangalore: When it comes to politics, he does not care for his age or health condition. Former Pri­me Minister H.D. Deve Gowda is now busy with activities for moulding the Third Front in national politics, which is yet to take proper shape.

The JD(S) supremo said a clear picture would emerge ar­o­und January 15, when Left parties would be able to bring most regional parties under one umbrella. More interestingly, he hinted at the possibility of Aam Admi Party (AAP) bec­oming a part of the third force.

According to Gowda, na­tional parties like the Congress and BJP survive only in absence of local alternati­ves, which are present in most states in the country. Excerpts from Gowda's interview:

In the run up to the Pa­rli­am­ent elections, what is the role of regional parties?

Regional parties are coming under a single umbrella, a clear picture will emerge around January 15. This time, Con­gre­ss and BJP will not be spared. Unlike earlier years, except for the JD(S) and Left parties, other regional parties have the resources to fight the elections.

So far, the Third Front has not gained momentum among the people and in the media as the alternative is yet to be projected. Once the alternative is pr­oje­­cted, it will have a snowba­lling effect.

But the election is being highlighted as a fight between Modi and Rahul Gandhi?

The nation needs an alternative to vote for. It was demonstrated by that ‘young boy’ (Arvind Kejriwal) in Delhi within a span of just one year. The Congress was routed and ev­en BJP, with all its hype, fell behind him.

Both parties tried hard to ma­lign and destroy him by mooting an investigation into his fu­nding sources and even saying that he and Anna Hazare were not on talking terms. Despite th­ese bottlenecks, people came out and voted for him.

In MP, Rajasthan and Ch­ha­ttisgarh, BJP came to power since people rejected the Co­ngress. They did not have an alt­ernative. The Congress had announced benefits like free rice, power and farmer loans even in these states, but it did not work.

So, Congress and BJP can survive only in places wh­ere there is no alternative. All po­litical forces, which are an alternative to Congress and BJP, will come together during the parliamentary elections.

In the Parliament election, na­tional parties can take ad­va­ntage of national issues?

Every state has its own leadership as well as problems. All national issues are issues for regional parties also. Inflation, poverty, unemployment, nat­io­nal security are the main iss­ues for national parties. Are they not our issues? The country has not mortgaged issues and power to just the two na­ti­onal parties.

Apart from these issues, every state has its own local issues like river, border disputes, formation of new states and so on. Along with national issues, regional issues are also addressed by regional parties.

They are all mature leaders and don't need to learn politics from Congress and BJP. Even we have put in 50 years in politics, regional leaders can handle the so called national issues also.

There seem to be coordination issues in some states, dominated by regional parties over supporting the Third Front

There is nothing like that. In UP, you will be talking about SP and BSP. When Left parties withdrew their support to the UPA government at the Centre over the nuclear issue, both parties saved the government. When it comes to the national scenario, things change. This is true for states like Bihar, West Bengal and other states also.

Even Sharad Pawar (NCP chief) has said that his alliance with Congress was limited to Maharashtra. What stand he would take when it comes to the national level, we have to wait and watch. Left parties are bringing everyone under one umbrella, there is no doubt about it.

There seem to be too many PM aspirants in the Third Front, even before it has taken shape?

It is a wrong perception. At the moment, there may be many capable people, including Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ms J. Jayalalithaa or even Nitish Kumar, who aspire to become PM. However, the coalition partners will declare the Prime Ministerial candidate.

What is the role of JD(S) in the entire exercise?

At the national level, I will be with the Left parties. In the state, JD(S) has its own vote share and nobody can shatter it. Everyone talks about the two by-elections, where we lost se­ats to the Congress.

However, our vote share was intact in the two Lok Sabha constituencies. Since BJP withdrew and tactfully supported Congress, we lost. In this parliamentary election, all the three parties have to contest.

Now, Chief Minister Sid­d­a­ram­aiah is banking heavily on the backward classes. This ti­me, it will boomerang on him.