HYDERABAD: J. Jayalalithaa and Mulayam Singh Yadav, former Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh respectively, are among the important leaders attending a conclave of regional parties being hosted by Telugu Desam party president N. Chandrababu Naidu at his Jubilee Hills residence here on Wednesday.

The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of the coming Presidential election, though TDP leaders insist that it would mainly be discussing an alternative economic policy, being propounded by the party for sometime now and to explore the contours of forming a broad non-Congress and non-BJP coalition or the Third Front.

Other leaders attending the conclave include Om Prakash Chautala, Babulal Marandi and S. Bangarappa, former Chief Ministers of Haryana, Jharkhand and Karnataka respectively, Amar Singh, Samajwadi Party MP, Vaiko, MDMK president, Brindavan Goswami, Asom Gana Parishad president, and K. J. Thomas of the Kerala Congress.

Decisive factor

Despite TDP leaders' reluctance to discuss the agenda, the meeting would focus on the stand to be taken by these parties in the coming Presidential election. With a combined vote share of 1.20 lakh with 60 MPs and a few hundred MLAs, these leaders feel that their support to a particular candidate could be the decisive factor in deciding who will be the next President as the votes of UPA and NDA-led fronts are evenly poised. In deciding their stand, these parties would also have to consider the stand to be taken by the Left.

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