Gowda pitches for third front

With a mixed bag of results for the Congress and BJP in recent assembly polls, the smaller and regional parties are looking up to the Left leaders to make the Third Front a viable alternative before the Lok Sabha polls, reports Shekhar Iyer.

With a mixed bag of results for the Congress and BJP in recent assembly polls, the smaller and regional parties are looking up to the Left leaders to make the Third Front a viable alternative before the Lok Sabha polls.

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Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president, H.D. Deve Gowda, said on Tuesday that he has asked the Left leaders to work on an agenda of governance of the Third Front, instead of leaving the issue to be decided after the polls.

Gowda told the Hindustan Times, “the signs are that both the Congress and the BJP are not in a good shape. Regional parties are going to play a crucial role in the Lok Sabha polls.”

Therefore, he said, he had told the Left leaders to straightaway prepare a broad agenda that would be promised to voters if the front came to power with the support of other parties. Gowda said the Left leaders had agreed to his suggestion.