VIJAYAWADA: Former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party M. Venkaiah Naidu does not foresee the emergence of a third front as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP in the national political arena. He says the efforts to forge alliance with several political parties - other than the Congress and the BJP - will prove to be a flop show, as any alternative cannot form a Government at the Centre without the support of either of the two major parties. "It is nothing but daydreaming," he quips.

Talking to presspersons here on Tuesday, Mr. Naidu said he foresaw a political rearrangement at the Centre after the elections in the five States. Dwelling on the third front, particularly in the context of constant efforts by Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu and Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav, the BJP leader said that the proposed third front had neither like-minded approach nor effective leadership.

He brushed aside the possibility of the CPI(M) providing leadership to a non-Congress and non-BJP alliance. Mr. Naidu said there could be no unanimity among constituents vis-à-vis the economic policies. Neither the CPI(M) would give up its economic policies, nor would the TDP drift away from its perceived priorities. "Of course, the TDP is seriously considering the possibility of forging a third front. It is only a one-sided romance," he remarked.

However, the moment the third front took shape, the UPA Government would collapse. The CPI(M) did not want this to happen, for such a political situation would give an edge to the BJP, he observed.

Nuclear option

Mr. Naidu demanded a categorical statement by the Prime Minister on the observations of the United States that India should seek US' permission to exercise nuclear option. "We (Indians) are not going to act on anybody's instructions, nor are we ready to toe the line of any other country," he observed.

He derided the electoral promises - including reservations on the basis of religion -- being made by the DMK and the AIADMK. He also found fault with observations of Mr. Chandrababu Naidu on the discrimination against `Shia' Muslims and linking the issue of Iran to it. "Foreign policy of any political party should be guided by enlightened national interest," he said.

Hoping that the BJP would open its account in Kerala, he said the party would make big gains in Assam. Mr. Naidu said that the "Bharat Suraksha Yatra" intended at educating and enlightening people on the wrong policies of the UPA Government was evoking a tremendous response.

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