Criticising the organisers of the ‘Anti-Communal Convention’ for their silence on corruption and mismanagement of economy under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha) Arun Jaitley said that it appeared to be an exercise by the political parties to ‘re-position’ themselves.
In a note posted on his website, Mr. Jaitley said overlooking omissions and commissions on various fronts suggests that the convention was an indirect strategy of helping the UPA.
“There are two old strategies available to some of these political parties. They oppose the BJP on the principle of anti-communalism. They support the BJP on the principle of anti-Congressism. It doesn’t take them very long to decide what the current principle is,” he wrote.
His case was that the deliberations at the convention were not in tandem with strong public opinion where there is a sense of revulsion against the present government on account of serious corruption scandals.
Mr. Jaitley contended that the convention did not take note of the alternative dynastic leadership being thrown up by the government, despite the fact that it is now being increasingly discussed by the people.
In a general reference to earlier statements by some non-Congress and non-BJP political leaders, the BJP leader said any talk of the Third Front is an exercise in futility as it is a ‘failed idea’.
“The Third Front governments are detrimental to governance. No single group in the purported Third Front can hope to win even 25-30 seats in the Lok Sabha. Who will anchor the Third Front? An unstable anchor can never provide a stable government, particularly at a moment when people want stability in governance to rebuild the economy and the nation,” he wrote.
He maintained that the Third Front has too many contradictions, pointing out that the BSP and the Samajwadi Party cannot simultaneously be a part of it.
