United Front not to support Congress or BJP

Syed Firdaus Ashraf and Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The United Front has decided not to support either the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party if either party tries to form a government, even as Congress president Sitaram Kesri asked the UF to choose a new leader.

At the UF steering committee meeting held at the caretaker prime minister's Race Course Road residence, it was decided that the 13-party combine would not support either the Congress or the BJP and would continue with H D Deve Gowda as its leader.

Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told Rediff On The NeT, Despite some UF leaders trying to hold secret negotiations with the Congress on Friday, the UF steering committee sought to downplay the matter. S Jaipal Reddy, the Front spokesman, said the question of replacing Deve Gowda did not figure at Saturday's meeting.

However, there is considerable speculation in the capital that a section of the UF will split in a day or two. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Tamil Maanila Congress, Laloo Prasad Yadav's section of the Janata Dal, Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and Nara Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party are all expected to choose their own routes to power by early next week.

The leaders of these parties fear they will not be able to retain the same number of seats they won in the last general election in a mid-term poll and that the country could not afford to go to polls at this juncture.

The TMC and DMK, which won 37 seats in Tamil Nadu, would not like the rival All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to even win one of those seats.

Laloo Prasad Yadav is also uncertain about his future after the fodder scam, worrying that the JD will fare badly badly against the BJP-Samta Party alliance in Bihar.

Mulayam Singh will too find the going tough in Uttar Pradesh after the marriage of convenience between the BJP and Bahujan Samaj Party. His party has only 17 seats, which an election could obviate.

The seeds of dissidence in the Front was seen on Friday when TMC leader G K Moopanar met Naidu at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan. A deal was to be struck before the vote of confidence, but the Left parties stressed there was no question of a change in leadership.

Asked if he was a contender for the prime minister' post, Mulayam Singh said, "I am too small for the prime minister's post and there are many other senior leaders who should aspire for it, not me." But he refused to answer if any senior UF leader was aspiring for the prime minister's office.

Meanwhile, supporters of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao met at Suresh Kalmadi's residence to discuss the current deadlock.

Front leaders in private admitted that there were informal talks between Congress and UF leaders after Deve Gowda lost the vote of confidence.

"We are still trying to avoid a mid-term election. But if it is inevitable, we cannot help it," commented one senior UF leader.

At a meeting with senior party leaders, Congress chief Kesri said the UF should choose a new leader to form a government. Kesri has asked Ghulam Nabi Azad, Tariq Anwar and Madhavrao Scindia to convince the UF about this if they want Congress support to form an alternative government.

Political observers feel the BJP will decline any Presidential offer to form a government as it may not be able to muster up the required support. The party may prefer a mid-term poll instead.