The time for a Third Front is never

Saswat Panigrahi

Staring at the upcoming 2014 general election, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has resurrected the mirage of Third Front once again. “Only Third Front can ensure development,” he says.

And as if that was not enough, BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik went on to describe Third front as a ‘healthy option’.

But the fact of the matter is that Third Front has never been a success in the past and it has no relevance in Indian politics today. India witnessed two handicapped Governments — led by HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral respectively — under United Front rule between 1996 and 1998. Both Governments were heavily dependent on the crutches of the Congress. The nation gained absolutely nothing under United Front rule. India faced an extreme economic crisis under the two Prime Ministers. Such was the situation that India had to deposit gold to the World Bank during the last phase of this period.

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