Time ripe for floating third alternative: Gowda

December 22, 2013 07:11 pm | Updated December 23, 2013 02:05 am IST - Thiruvananthapuram

JD(S) leader H.D. Deve Gowda. File photo

JD(S) leader H.D. Deve Gowda. File photo

The nation is looking forward to a third alternative to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose focus will be on policies and programmes and not the prime ministerial candidate, Janata Dal (S) national president Deve Gowda has said.

Mr. Gowda told reporters here on Sunday that the third front would comprise regional parties and the Left parties which had been maintaining an equal distance from both the Congress and the BJP.

This common platform needs to be constituted on the basis of policies and programmes. He had already aired his opinion to various leaders to initiate a discussion to iron out the policies to form the front.

The Samajwadi Party headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Nationalist Congress Party headed by Sharad Pawar, the Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar and all others can become part of the front. CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechuri had earlier taken a major role in forming the front. Mr. Gowda said he had expressed the need to them as well as the Communist Party of India (CPI) leader A.B. Bardhan too.

The emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi and the defeat meted out to the Congress and the BJP in the four Assembly elections are indicators of the need to form the third front. Asked about the stability of the third front, Mr.Gowda said an earlier combination of 13 parties used to go together without any discord and it was not a concern at all.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.