State leaders believe that they must emerge as an alternative to the Congress and the ruling BJP for democracy to thrive in the country

In the early ’80s, buoyed by his big victory against the Congress the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister NT Rama Rao (NTR) talked about the formation of a Front for regional satraps called the Bharat Desam. But, this did not materialise for many years as NTR’s vision was ahead of his time. Finally, in 1989 the National Front  was born, of which NTR became the chairman. The National Front came to power and VP Singh of the Janata Dal became the Prime Minister defeating the Congress Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. However, it wasted away soon, yielding space to another Front called the United Front in 1996, of which Deve Gowda became the Prime Minister, followed by IK Gujral. This alliance too, was short-lived.

The next Front was the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by AB Vajpayee in 1998 and 2004. Soon after, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi formed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which ruled for ten years. The year 2014 saw the grand return of the BJP-led NDA and its winning streak is still continuing. As the late Congress leader Ahmed Patel used to point out, the UPA was not a Front after the 2014 elections. The Congress’ slide has made it easier for the regional satraps, who are growing in number, to come together. Several of them, with a strong base in their respective States, are now thinking of forming a non-BJP and pro-Congress alliance. This is necessary because of the vacuum created by a weak Congress on the one side and the ambitious regional satraps who are dreaming of national leadership, on the other.

The question is, can this alliance, when it is formed, survive?  The answer to this can only come with time. But there is no doubt that the regional leaders view this as an opportune time to strengthen their positions further and work towards an alliance. They are quietly sounding out the other regional strongmen and mobilising their support. They realise that the Congress Party has lost its sheen and there is also a leadership crisis in the Grand Old Party. Moreover, in the last six years, the Congress has failed to lead the Opposition, despite repeated attempts to do so.

The purpose behind the bid to form a new alliance is to stall the BJP’s juggernaut. They want to float it now so that they will not be caught napping in the next Lok Sabha polls. One might recall the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief Chandrashekhar Rao announcing on the eve of the recent Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections that he plans to visit Delhi soon to discuss a non-BJP alliance.

Second, leaders like the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) head Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray are really worried about the way the BJP is growing in their backyard and they have been unable to check its growth.  Even neutral leaders like Rao and Patnaik are considering joining this Front, as they were hesitant to part of any group in which the Congress was a partner. 

Third, they are concerned about the aggressive campaigning by the BJP for even municipal polls, like it did in the recent GHMC elections. The BJP has jumped from two seats to 48 — just a few less than the TRS — which was ruling the roost for the last six years.  Fourth, the regional leaders do not mind taking issue-based help from the Congress, both in Parliament and outside, as the alliance would be opposed to the BJP in their respective States and also at the national level. The regional bigwigs are miffed with the Centre as they feel that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not adhering to the dharma of federal cooperation on many issues, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the money due to them for dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak.

Fifth, many senior leaders in the regional parties are reluctant to work under the leadership of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. They would not mind, for instance working under the leadership of Sharad Pawar because, being a senior both in terms of age and political experience, he is more acceptable to the other stalwarts. Last but not the least, the satraps  think that the BJP does not have any leader of stature in most States. They hope that this powerful alliance against the BJP would work in their favour. There is no doubt that for any democracy to function properly, there is a need for a powerful and effective Opposition. It is also clear that the splintered Opposition in the country has not been effective, even with a majority in the Rajya Sabha. The ruling NDA has been able to get many controversial Bills passed in the House of Elders because of the disunity in the Opposition ranks.

Hence, State leaders believe that they must emerge as an alternative to the Congress and the ruling BJP for democracy to thrive in the country. Earlier efforts to form a Third Front were all short-lived because of the ego problems among them. From the Janata Party days to the present times, every decade the idea of a Third Front surfaces. The present move is one of them.

(The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal)