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Friday, Mar 13, 2009
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Third Front launched

Laiqh A. Khan

New ‘secular democratic alternative’ vows to form government

— Photo:V. Sreenivasa Murthy

A new force: CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu at the launch of the Third Front at Dobbespet in Karnataka on Thursday.

Dobbespet (Karnataka): The Third Front was officially launched at an impressive rally here on Thursday, with a coalition of Left and major regional parties vowing to defeat the Congress-led UPA and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA in the Lok Sabha elections to form the next government at the Centre.

The mammoth rally saw the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Janata Dal (Secular), the Telugu Desam Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Forward Bloc, and the Janhit Congress Party of the former Haryana Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal, closing ranks against the Congress and the BJP.

The former Prime Minister and JD (S) supremo, H.D. Deve Gowda, who presided, said a national policy document would be prepared soon and placed before the people.

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat set the tone for the rally, stating that the “historic” convention was organised to address the “country’s need for a new alternative.” The coming electoral battle would give the people a chance to choose a new secular democratic alternative that would meet the aspirations of the masses.

CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan said the aim of the Third Front was to come to power. “It is an alternative to the policies and programmes [pursued by the UPA and the NDA],” he said.

Mr. Bardhan claimed that the Front could expand in the run-up to the elections and cited the possibility of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) joining forces with it. “They have snapped ties with the BJP. They will not go to either the Congress or the BJP,” he said.

BSP MP Satish Sharma, who was deputed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati to attend the rally, said the Front was the “only alternative” at the Centre.

AIADMK representative V. Maithreyan accused the UPA of being “soft” on terrorism, while TRS president Chandrashekara Rao’s son and party leader Taraka Rama Rao accused the Congress of “betraying” the party by doing a U-turn on the issue of statehood for Telangana.

Corrections and Clarifications

The BSP MP deputed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati to attend the Third Front launch rally is Satish Chandra Misra, and not Satish Sharma as given in the seventh paragraph of a report "Third Front launched" (March 13, 2009, page 1)

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