Third Front Formation Possible Only After Lok Sabha Polls: Sitaram

[cherlapalli_jailer]

 Any Third Front alliance would only take shape after the Lok Sabha polls and not in the run up to it, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said today even as heightened activity continues for the forging of such a coalition.

 

"There is not going to be a (Third) Front prior to Lok Sabha elections... From 1977 till today, whenever there has been an alliance, it has been after the elections, whether it be NDA, or United Front," Yechury told reporters outside Parliament.

 

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, too, has averred that a Third Front could only come together upon conclusion of the general elections.

 

The above comments have come in reaction to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and the Left leadership's move to hold a meeting with other leaders today to discuss the possible formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP alliance.

 

The informal meeting took place at the residence of JD(S) chief and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.

 

It was decided at the morning's discussion that the leaders of 11 non-Congress, non-BJP parties, who had recently come together in Parliament, will hold a formal meeting upon conclusion of the extended winter session to give concrete shape to the "third force".

 

Asked if Arvind Kerjriwal's AAP would be a part of such a front, Yechury said they should first make their stand clear on certain policies and principles which have brought the 11 parties together.

 

Describing the likely alliance as a 'First Front', Yechury said their aim was to formulate policies which would bring relief on the economic front and protect people from communal forces.