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Fourteen parties close ranks against 'communalism'
-The Times of India


NEW DELHI: Fourteen non-Congress and non-BJP parties on Wednesday sought to present themselves as the bulwark against "communalism" ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections although they said the mobilization is not intended to be a "Third Front".

The meeting was attended by Sharad Pawar's NCP, which with nine MPs is the largest Congress partner in Parliament, along with Left parties and regional outfits like SP, BJD, AIADMK and JD(U). Others included Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), RSP, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, People's Party of Punjab (PPP) and Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh.

The congregation is positioning itself as a claimant to political space that regional leaders feel is being vacated by a reduced Congress-led UPA and is clearly a bid to emerge as a decisive factor in the next elections. Calculating that BJP is not poised to fill the vacuum, and eyeing political gains at the expense of a weakened Congress, the parties that gathered at the Talkatora Stadium here presented a strong showing in the cause against communalism.

The dynamics at work were evident as Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was a main constituent despite the Uttar Pradesh government being accused of ineptitude and deliberate politics in dealing with the Muzaffarnagar riots.

The bonhomie was visible even though former CPI general secretary A B Bardhan bluntly told Yadav that if normalcy has to return to Muzaffarnagar, the SP government in the state should make efforts to send people living in camps to their homes and villages.

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's speech read out by AIADMK leader M Thambidurai also struck a different note. She said, "State is often seen to be acceding to pressure of minority demands at one time and majority demands at another time which has fuelled the activities of various people." She said secularism also does not mean appeasing one section of the society and suppressing the other.

Leaders of parties that can cobble up over 100 Lok Sabha seats dropped enough hints that the unity initiative should be extended further. But as of now, they said, talk of a Third Front will be immature.

Well aware of how previous initiatives have fallen flat, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said, "You know while getting together one or the other leader gets lost. I am talking of whatever unity is possible, maximum possible."

Yet Kumar's presence was significant in itself as he found himself in the company he had abandoned more than a decade and a half when JD(U) had been an ally of the BJP. His rejoining of likely Third Front constituents has made BJP's task all that much tougher.

BJP predictably came in for some harsh criticism with Kumar and other leaders attacking the saffron outfit and its prime ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi.

Other leaders dropped hints too. CPM's Sitaram Yechury said, "There is nothing like a Third Front but this is a 'doosra' of Indian politics." Ramgopal Yadav of SP said, "This is the beginning ... you will see a lot in the coming days."

Inaugurating the convention, noted historian Irfan Habib talked of how during the Partition there were enough instances of Hindu-Muslim amity. But he acknowledged the secular character of the country was hit by events like the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 violence in Gujarat where Muslims were at the receiving end of Hindus.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat attacked Modi, "nominee of RSS for the post of PM", for calling himself a Hindu nationalist. "In our country one can only be a secular nationalist," he said. Karat pointed out how BJP instead of highlighting the problems of youth, women and working class is engaged in spreading communal tension. "Even secular issues are being given communal colour," he said.

YadavSingh, who has been under attack after the Muzaffarnagar riots, told the gathering that his party's government in Uttar Pradesh had maintained vigil throughout be it stopping VHP yatra in Ayodhya or other places but still the riots in Muzaffarnagar took place. Yadav said he has faced the brunt of attack for protecting the rights of Muslims.

"Some said either Mulayam's father or mother is a Muslim. I don't know so many other things have been said about me," he said, asking secular parties to come together.

Bardhan took potshots at the BJP and Modi. He said those trying to build a statue of Sardar Patel should know the first home minister was against the idea of making India a Hindu nation. "They should tell the nation what Patel thought of RSS," he said. Bardhan said communalism and casteism are companions of imperialism and country should unite against them.