BJP vs all for 2019?

New Delhi: After Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) B.S. Yeddyurappa resigned as Chief Minister (CM) of Karnataka last week, the cry for a Congress-led anti-BJP third front for 2019 general elections gained steam yet again.

The Opposition parties described Congress-Janata Dal Secular (JDS) alliance succeeding in destabilising the Yeddyurappa government even before it was formed “a victory of the regional front.”

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who has been toying with the idea of a third front for the last one year, said the stage was set for a “formidable third front” and Congress had to take a call on whether or not to join it.

In March, Banerjee and Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao had called for a coalition urging all regional parties to form a “Federal Front” for the 2019 general election. While Rao indicated a non-BJP non-Congress coalition, Banerjee avoided a direct answer.

Last week, Banerjee extended support to Congress-JDS combine and hoped that the alliance extended to the rest of the country.

After Yeddyurappa resigned, Banerjee was the first to congratulate JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy.

“Democracy wins. Congratulations Karnataka. Congratulations HD DeveGowda Ji, Kumaraswamy Ji, Congress and others. It is the victory of the ‘regional’ front,” she had tweeted.

Kumaraswamy, in turn, invited her for the swearing-in ceremony that is due to take place on Wednesday.

“Congress-JDS combine has sent a wave of cheer among anti-BJP parties, giving them hope. After BS Yeddyurappa’s resignation due to lack of numbers in the Karnataka legislative assembly, JDS leader Kumaraswamy was flooded with congratulatory messages. His party’s alliance with Congress has given fresh hopes to those working hard on the formation of a third front for the upcoming general elections,” political analyst Vivek Saksena told Gulf News.

But analysts feel that Congress will require to take the lead in preventing the BJP spreading its influence across the country.

“The third front has to include Congress. Congress must lead it to check the influence of BJP among the voters. All major regional parties which stand against the ideology of BJP will also have no option but to join the front ahead of the 2019 elections so that a formidable alternative can be provided to people,” political commentator Vijay Chaturvedi told Gulf News.

BJP is already expecting all major regional parties to come together and contest against it in the next elections.

However, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury believes that any third front would not be successful if it is formed with the sole aim of coming to power.

“The third front should have a strong basis and policy under which it should be formed and would emerge only through public movements. Telangana Chief Minister spoke with me some days back, wanting to bring a non-Congress and non-BJP front. He asked my opinion. I said the third front exercise was done about 20 years ago in 1996. We formed a government under the leadership of Deve Gowda without BJP and Congress. But I told him that the front that will be formed specifically to come into power will not work,” he said.