Trinamool Congress takes lead to form Third Front

West Bengal CM Miss Mamata Banerji's All India Trinamool Congress ("AITMC") has taken the lead to form a Third Front of regional parties to form India's Central Government in 2014.

The mecurial TMC leader who was voted in May 2013 as India's most honest politician in an internal poll by members of India Against Corruption, "IAC", India's largest anti-corruption coalition, being closely followed by the Chief Minister of the neigbouring state of Bihar Mr. Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) "JD(U)" Party.

Ms. Banerjee made her announcement on Thursday which was immediately welcomed by leaders of the Samajwadi Party and the Indian National Lok Dal Party. Previously she had spoken to the Chief Minster of another populous Eastern State Mr. Navin Patnaik who welcomed the call for a 3rd front.

Already leaders of other political formations are scrambling to prevent Nitish Kumar and Ms. Mamata Banerjee's parties from reaching a pre-poll alliance. JD(U) National Convenor Sharad Yadav, a political lightweight who does not get on well with Mr. Nitish Kumar, met yesterday with Communist Party of India (Marxist) "CPIM" chief trouble-shooter Sitaram Yechury to discuss the fallout of Ms. Banerjee's call. The JD(U) is presently part of the NDA, a coalition of Hindu right-wing parties affiliated to the Bharatiya Janta Party "BJP"which has been out of power at the Centre since 2004, and JD(U) has an uneasy equation with BJP new National Election Convenor Mr. Narendra Modi who was sharply indicted yesterday by the Gujarat High Court for interfering in the investigation of the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

G.Satyaprasad Rao | India News Political Bureau (with agency inputs), New Delhi, Saturday 15 June 2013, 00:23 AM (IST)

Party: AITMC, IAC, JD(U),

Politico: Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar

Editors: G Satyaprasad Rao

GeoTag: Kolkatta