Third Front vows to halt Modi in his tracks

• Refrains from announcing Prime Ministerial candidate
• Karat says it will maintain equi-distance from Cong, BJP
• However, leaders non-committal on avoiding Cong
• They pin hopes on Cong in case of a hung parliament

New Delhi: In the name of secularism, 11 parties joined hands on Tuesday to prevent BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from forming the next government at the Centre. With each of its leaders hoping to become the Prime Minister, the Third Front will select its Prime Ministerial candidate only after the elections. After the meeting in the capital, the leaders of the Third Front came out with aDraft Declaration that vowed to throw out the corrupt Congress-led UPA government and fight against the communal forces. Interestingly, while CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat claimed that the Front wanted to keep equi-distance from the Congress and the BJP, none of the leaders, when asked, spoke against forming the government with the Congress, while they ruled out joining hands with the BJP.

Nitish Kumar was candid to say, "We will not have any truck with the BJP after polls." At the same time, he and Prakash Karat were non-committal on going with the Congress in the post-poll scenario. The leaders hope to get Congress support in the wake of the Hung Parliament, in their bid to contain the communal forces to come to power. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, AGP leader Praful Mahanta and representative of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha were not present, while TN CM Jayalalithaa deputed Thambi Durai.

All the other leaders were present that included Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav (JD-U), Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury (CPM), H D Deve Gowda (JD-S) and Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP). All the three leaders-Patnaik, Jayalalithaa and Mahanta, who were not present are in no mood to commit themselves at present, keeping their options open on a possible tie-up with Narendra Modi after the polls.

After the meeting, Prakash Karat maintained that due to price-rise and massive corruption, the Third Front will work for the defeat of the Congress. At the same time, he held the BJP equally corrupt when it was in power at the Centre and in the States. Karat said, "The communal platform, which BJP and its mentor RSS is seeking to bring into our country under Modi is something we will unitedly counter and make sure that the BJP and its allies will not be able to come to the Centre." On the issue of seat-sharing, Karat said that every party in their own respective States will ensure maximum success and performance in elections.

All the leaders of the Third Front are keen to get the maximum number of seats that would ultimately enhance their bargaining power at the time of government formation.