Regional parties seem to be capable of exercising considerable influence in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in India. UP, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and West Bengal are playing key roles. Efforts are being made to cobble together a non-Congress and a non-BJP alliance. Only the Left seems to be the odd factor out and may be termed a fourth front. Mamata Banerjee has called the third front third class with her biting sarcasm. Naveen Patnaik’s BJD has stayed away from the beginning. AIADMK is hardly a solid phalanx. CPI (M) leader Prakash Karat is in a tizzy as Jayalaitha is cozying up with Mamata, giving the Left a wide berth. On the eve of International Women’s Day, Mamata Banerjee indicated that she was game to tie up with Jayalalitha or Mayawati. The TMC is also blessed by Anna Hazare. Mamata has formed a federal front to challenge the Centre and the Left. It seems confusion is all around.
The federal front has the weakness of being run by regional satraps. Their coming to the fore will not go down well with the other political formations. The Left has no intention of putting forward a Prime Ministerial candidate. It would be happy to operate behind the scenes. But the regional parties do not follow such a line. It is obvious that should one of the federal front leaders gets to be the next PM, he or she will not be just a candidate of the front. The person has to be propped up by the UPA or the NDA. As past experience shows, the stability of such a coalition government will be in doubt.