In an apparent reference to talk of various prime ministerial candidates in the Third Front, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee likened it to “placing the cart before the horse”.
“Just to project somebody as Prime Minister is a different issue … we hear slogans … it is like placing the cart before the horse,” he told mediapersons.
Mukherjee pointed out that of the 60 years of independent India, Congress has ruled the country on its own for 45 years and every attempt by several parties as a grouping to form a government has not borne fruit.
“What are the objectives in floating this idea (of Third Front)? Government must have a vision, programme. I do not know whether they have a programme,” he said.
Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu dismissed the Third Front as a “parking lot” and a “mirage” and claimed that the Lok Sabha electoral battle is basically between NDA headed by it and Congress-led UPA.
“It’s like in a city, people park their vehicles, and after their work, they take it away. That’s (Third Front) only a permanent place for parking”, the former BJP President told reporters in Bangalore.
“In all the recent elections, Prime Minister and the programme of the coalition have been discussed and announced only after the polls. And that includes Manmohan Singh and the
UPA’s Common Minimum Programme,” CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury told.
Reacting to senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee’s attack on the Front, Yechury said “this only confirms the significance of the Third Front”. “There is a ground reality where people are looking for an alternate policy direction which is reflected in the growing support for the Front,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Mukherjee had said the Front did not have a programme and the projection of somebody as Prime Minister was “like placing the cart before the horse”. Talking to reporters, former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda said the National Policy document would be finalised by the end of this month.
On the issue of Prime Minister, he said, “We will decide on the issue when the time comes.” He, however, maintained that “we have no problem on Mayawati being PM if others agree.”
CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan had also said that the Third Front will not project anyone as its Prime Ministerial candidate during electioneering. Their statements came soon after senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra said his party’s objective was to make Mayawati the Prime Minister.