'We have sown seeds of Third Front,' says Samajwadi Party

Kolkata: Urging all regional parties opposed to the Congress and the BJP to come together, the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Wednesday said it had sowed the seeds for a Third Front. “We have sown the seeds and now they have to be nurtured,” party general secretary Mohan Singh said, after moving a draft political resolution on the first day of its two-day national executive here, “We urge all regional parties opposed to the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and the Congress to forge the new front,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_453013” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screen grab from ibnlive[/caption] Singh, however, indicated that his party would prefer to forge ties with the Left rather than the Trinamool Congress. “Trinamool is a prominent regional party. When we speak to other parties, we will be under compulsion to also speak with Trinamool. “But the problem is that we have a traditional relation with the Left. During tough times, we have got support from Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu,” Singh said. Asked if his party would project Mulayam Singh Yadav as the prime ministerial candidate of the third front, Singh said: “If we do so, we will be posing hurdles in the formation of the Third Front. But is there anyone who does not want to be the prime minister?” He was asked why his party so often came to the rescue of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance? Singh said the SP was guided by two considerations: a poor country like India cannot afford repeated elections; and there was need to keep communal forces like the BJP out of power. Singh said regional parties had a strong presence in certain pockets, but had been unable, until now, to emerge as a strong force at the centre. “Before the 2014 (Lok Sabha) elections, we hope the regional parties will unite and raise such a campaign pitch that both the Congress and the BJP will be blown away,” he said. IANS