While the DMK depends on a 'silver sieve' of welfare schemes to stay in power, its support is slowly draining away under the weight of poor governance, corruption, and voters who are no longer satisfied with benefits alone and now want basic administration to work, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
According to political observers, the AIMIM sees a catchment area in Bihar, where Muslims are more than 17 per cent of the total population but have never got a proportionate representation in the state legislature.
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The current situation in Kerala politics is perhaps best described as a case of the state's traditional two front politics now seeing a third front (the BJP) muscling in with the potential outcome being either a messy three front affair or a renewed endorsement of the two front pattern but with one of the old fronts compromised or quashed, observes Shyam G Menon.
While acknowledging that they needed strong allies for a chance in the assembly polls, AIADMK cadres seemingly prefer actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to the BJP, owing to the latter's 'communal agenda' and consequent hardline Hindutva image, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
However, speculation remained rife that the meeting was part of Banerjee's plan to form an opposition front with regional players minus the Congress.
EPS' acceptance of Amit Shah's proposal for an electoral alliance with the BJP is being interpreted to mean how the AIADMK has signed up the NDA national leader as a junior partner. Not many have appreciated EPS for this strategic move that has now forced the BJP to play second fiddle to the AIADMK. This has meant that the BJP has buried its ambitions of capturing power in Tamil Nadu now, and is willing to wait until after the 2029 Lok Sabha polls, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Patnaik, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi earlier in the day to discuss developmental issues related to his state, also ruled out joining any third front, a plan floated by some regional parties earlier.
'The TMC can't go on forever taking advantage of the people's fright of the BJP.'
There is a proposal from the BJP camp that they would resort to a proportion-based increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats for individual states, based on what they now have. On the face of it, this sounds like a fine argument that those demanding a 'freeze' now cannot oppose without reasons and justification, avers N Sathiya Moorthy.
Terming the emergence of a Third Front as 'the most enduring mirage of Indian politics', the Congress on Monday said the UPA government at the Centre is 'absolutely stable'.
Describing Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's remarks favouring a third front, as 'misleading', senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajnath Singh on Thursday sought a firm assurance from the SP on withdrawing support to the United Progressive Alliance.
Fernandes denied that the NDA had outlived its utility.
The newly-formulated Third Front left its imprint in Parliament on the opening day of the reconvened winter session when it surprised the ruling coalition by derailing the Anti-Communal Violence Bill
Will the so-called Third Front partners be able to retain their ambitious unity till the end of this month, when the Finance Bill comes for voting in the Lok Sabha? Doubts are hovering around the Yadav duo Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav -- as the two have taken different stands in the past one week on the issue.
It said the Congress will infuse new blood in leadership roles without creating new fault lines and cementing its ideological moorings.
Terming the Third Front as the "biggest mirage" of Indian politics, the Congress on Thursday said whenever the grouping has resurrected, it has only helped the communal forces.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley feels the JD-U and SP, the prime movers behind the idea of Third Front, are 'potential losers' in their areas of influence, and are no match to Narendra Modi-led NDA.
The Telugu Desam president and a leading figure in the third front N Chandrababu Naidu has ruled out the possibility of any body being projected as the prime ministerial candidate of the third front before the elections.
Amid the Bahujan Samaj Party's keenness to project Mayawati as a prime ministerial candidate, the Communist Party of India on Friday said the Third Front would not name any leader for the top post in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election. "The Third Front will not project anyone as its prime ministerial candidate during electioneering," CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan told reporters, a day after the Left and some regional parties joined hands to cobble up a Third Front.
Communist Party of India leader A B Bardhan said on Thursday that Third Front leaders are in touch with Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who severed ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party, to rope his party Biju Janata Dal into the coalition.
Janata Dal Secular chief H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday said that Biju Janata Dal chief and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik would definitely join the Third Front, following the split in the BJD- Bharatiya Janata Party alliance.Gowda said that he had spoken to Patnaik, who had assured him that he will join the Third Front unconditionally.When queried about the Third Front rally, which will be held in Bangalore on Thursday, Gowda said Patnaik would not be able to attend.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday ruled out the possibility of his party supporting the Third Front to form the government.
Communist Party of India National General Secretary A B Bardhan on Tuesday claimed that a 'Third Front', as a viable alternative to the United Progressive Alliance and Nationalist Democratic Alliance, would emerge with like-minded Left parties and some pro-poor regional parties coming together.
Even as eight parties launched the Third Front with much fanfare and hype, there continues to be a question mark as to who the prime ministerial candidate would be--just in case this new combination comes to power.
While the DMK dubbed the meeting as only a 'courtesy visit', Rao did not meet the waiting reporters.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that the Third Front was like a "parking lot" where parties come and go and ruled out any chance of it forming a government at the Centre.
Accusing the UPA government of all-round failure, he said the people were yearning for a genuine alternative that was committed to the welfare of the poor.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Member of Parliament Babulal Marandi has extended support to the Third Front.In a letter to Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, the prominent Jharkhand leader said he supported the Front, which was a non-United Progressive Alliance and non-National Democratic Alliance option. He said that he could not attend the Front's meeting in New Delhi due to prior poll-related commitments.
Indicating that its alliance with the Congress is very much on, Samajwadi Party on Tuesday ruled out any partnership with the Third Front, saying it has got no "significance".
The Third Front, which has a history of mutative existence, hops into the new year with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhgham joining the group of disparate parties ganging up on a non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party platform.
Brushing aside reports of differences between 'third front' partners, Janata Dal-Secular chief H D Deve Gowda on Monday said no one can prevent the emergence of a political "force" against Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. Gowda said he is closely watching the situation in the country and political compulsions will create a "force" against the Congress and the BJP.
The Third Front on Monday said it will support President A P J Abdul Kalam for a second term as President as he is the "universally accepted" candidate for the high office.
The Bahujan Samaj Party on Saturday indicated that it would not be aligning itself with any Third Front in the President's election or the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday ruled out formation of a Third Front ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha elections, saying differences could crop up among various parties on ticket distribution if it takes shape now.
It is not inconceivable that elections in India can be fought by a party maintaining a distinct regional identity in state elections while merging to fight on a common symbol in the national elections, says Shashi Shekhar
The SP hopes to rope in Telugu Desam Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazagam and the Nationalist Congress Party in the proposed front.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday dismissed talks of formation of a Third Front as a, 'figment of imagination'.
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