MSY hints at a broad-based 3rd front

BAREILLY: With a galaxy of former chief ministers present on the occasion Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday set the agenda for the future course of his politics by hinting at the formation of broad-based Third Front at the Centre comprising leaders drawn from east, west, north and south. He chose the Rohilla territory of Bareilly for making the announcement keeping in view the inroads made by the Samajwadi Party in the 2002 Assembly elections in what was essentially a BJP’s stronghold.
Bareilly with its nine assembly segments of Aonla, Sunha, Faridpur, Bareilly Cantonment, Bareilly City, Nawabganj, Bhojipura, Kanwar and Baheri goes to polls in the third phase on April 18. The SP had bagged five seats in the last election here with its tally going up to seven when Dharmendra Kashyap (Sunha) and Aaturur-Rehman (Baheri ), elected on the BSP tickets, later joined it.
As if to reinforce the party's presence in the area Mulayam's meeting held at the Islamia Inter College grounds had amongst others former chief minister of Haryana Om Prakash Chautala, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandra Babu Naidu and former Karnataka chief minister and now SP MP S Bangarappa. Former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha who was also slated to attend the meeting could not do so following a blast in her home state. She, however, sent her message with a promise that she would be there at the SP's meeting to be held in Allahabad.
Also present were the president of the Asom Gana Parishad Vrindavan Goswami, Rajya Sabha members Natwar Singh, Obaidullah Azmi and Jaya Bachchan, SP MP Jaya Prada, SP national general secretary Amar Singh, and UP’s parliamentary affairs minister Azam Khan.
Mulayam began his speech by saying that the 'tasveer' and 'taqdeer' of the country will change after the Uttar Pradesh polls. Appealing to the party workers to sink their differences over ticket allotments he highlighted the main points of the SP’s poll manifesto. These included the largess promised to all sections of society particularly the farmers, the unemployed, girl students in addition to the upgradation of health facilities at the district level. He appealed to the electorate to vote for the SP and ensure that it formed the government again.
The call for the Third Front set in motion by Bangarappa, Chautala, Naidu and others when they slammed the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. The former CM of Haryana said people were tired of the two national parties — the Congress and the BJP — as the two had lost touch with the pulse of the people. He added the Left parties should see through the mask of secularism donned by the Congress and stressed the only secular party was the SP. Accusing the Election Commission of favouring the Congress he stressed that the only secular party was the SP.
Near similar views were expressed by Bangarappa who said the UP polls were important keeping in view the overall interest of the country. The SP MP said that a strong third front was the need of the hour as the UPA government was very unstable.
Naidu also gave a similar call for the Third front and asked the people to vote for the Samajwadi Party. The Muslim card was played to the hilt by Azam Khan and Azmi. The minority vote plays a decisive role in the Rohilkhand region and a swing in either way can make or the mar the fortune of a candidate. Azam Khan made a passionate appeal to the Muslims not to forget the indignities heaped upon them by the Congress, BJP and the BSP either in the form of the Babri Masjid, being called fundamentalist and terrorists and also being subjected to communal violence.
The two Jayas chose to confine their speech to an appeal for votes with Bachchan introducing the SP candidate from Bareilly, Dr Arun Kumar. She said that Bareilly held a special significance for her as it was in this city that her father and mother-in-law had met for the first time.
Jaya Prada spoke about BSP president Mayawati['s threat to put Mulayam and Amar Singh in jail if voted to power. She said the difference between the two parties was that BSP had jail in its manifesto and the SP had development.