NEW DELHI — With the NDA making a dent into the Dalit vote bank in the just concluded elections to Parliament and total rout of Dalit politics champion Ramvilas Paswan, the LJP chief feels threatened because of his fast diminishing political clout and hence not ready to dump Lalu Prasad led RJD in the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar.
“What is required to take over the NDA in Bihar is a grand alliance having LJP, RJD and Congress and I am pressing for that,” Paswan said when asked about his party’s future plans for the upcoming Assembly polls.
Strategists in the Congress party, however, indicated to play a different game plan altogether. A section of Congress feels that it needs to completely marginalize Lalu Prasad if it has to make any inroads in this politically important state.
The Congress party plans to get Ramvilas Paswan led LJP in its fold to get a pie of the Dalit votes. A senior Congress leader in Bihar met Paswan a few days back with a proposal to contest Assembly polls in the state in a Congress-LJP alliance minus RJD, Sources said.
Paswan, however, is not too enthusiastic about Congress’ plan to dump friend-turned-foe-turned-friend Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Expressing apprehension and citing results of the recently held elections to the Legislative Council, Paswan said, “The ground situation in Bihar is such that any triangular contest will benefit the NDA.”
The ruling NDA had gained absolute majority in the state Legislative Council elections winning 13 of the 22 local authorities seats of the Upper House. Congress lost two seats it earlier held in the council while LJP won three of the six seats it contested this time. RJD could get only two seats.
He repeated his cliche saying, “All secular forces have to fight together to defeat the communal alliance in Bihar.”
“There is need for a realistic approach to make a viable alternative to replace the BJP-JD combine in Bihar,” Paswan said adding that “contesting Lok Sabha election in Bihar separately from Congress was an unfortunate development and lessons should be learnt from it”.
Paswan also charged Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with deliberately trying to divide dalit community for their votes and threatened to launch a state-wide agitation against the alleged “discrimination”.
Paswan announced that a 3-day day national camp of the LJP commencing from August 12 at Bodh Gaya would draw up the poltical agenda of the party for the next two years.

Hyderabad, May 16 : In a bid to prevent horse-trading of its candidates, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Thursday lodged all its candidates and leaders at the party headquarters in Hyderabad.


All nine Lok Sabha and 45 assembly candidates would stay put at the Telangana Bhavan for the next couple of days, as the party fears of poaching of its candidates by other parties and alliances.

The TRS, which fought the assembly elections in alliance with the Third Front, has recently announced its support for the National Democratic Alliance.

Accusing the Congress Party of betrayal, senior TRS leader N Narasimha Reddy said his party has decided to support the NDA because it has committed to carve out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh within 100 days of coming into power.

“We want the NDA to come to power as it has promised us that within 100 days of coming to power it will give us Telangana state. The UPA has betrayed us and kept us on hook for five years. To beat the UPA, we have formed a grand alliance,” Reddy said.

K Chandrashekhar Rao-led TRS is keeping its cards close till the declaration of the Lok Sabha results. If the NDA comes to power, the TRS has decided to ask them to pass the Telangana resolution in the first assembly session.

“We will wait till tomorrow when the results will be declared and after that whoever forms the government and if NDA, then our demand is that they must pass the Telangana resolution in the first assembly session,” added N Narasimha Reddy.

TRS, which fought the assembly elections in alliance with regional Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the two Left parties, may also play a crucial role in the formation of the new state government.

Despite these two tie-ups, the TRS switched its support to the NDA and snapped its ties with the Third Front last week.

The results of the surveys, in a common trend, show Congress gaining the upper hand.

New Delhi: The Congress-led UPA has been projected to have an edge over NDA and others in the Lok Sabha elections which are expected to produce a highly-fractured verdict, exit polls on television news channels show. The results of the surveys, shown by the channels at the end of the fifth and final phase of polling in the month-long exercise, have placed the BJP-led NDA not very far behind the UPA and the Third Front at a little over 100 seats.
'Headlines Today' channel gave Congress and its allies 191 seats against 180 to BJP and its allies. The Left parties, which played a crucial role in the outgoing Lok Sabha with 60 seats, has been projected to get 38 while 'Others' including the BSP are set to get 134 in a House of 543.
In its projections, 'India TV' channel said UPA would get between 195 seats and it could go up to 227 if 32 seats of RJD, LJP and SP are added. The channel has given NDA 189 and the Third Front 113. 'Others' are projected to get 14 seats.

Exit polls had been way off the mark in 2004 Lok Sabha polls, with most of them projecting BJP-led NDA as the winner which did not turn out to be correct. Ultimately, in 2004 elections the Congress and its pre-poll allies got 216 seats against a projection ranging from 170 to 205 seats. The BJP-led NDA had secured 187 seats against the projections of over 240 to 250 seats.
In the predictions by 'NewsX' channel, the UPA has been projected to get 199 seats against 191 of NDA while the 'Third Front' gets 104 and 'Others' 48. Congress alone is expected to get 155 and BJP two less.
'UTVi' channel gives UPA 195 and along with SP, LJP and RJD, it gets 227. The NDA has been given 189 seats and 'Others' 14.
Yet another channel 'News 24' gave projections made by the political parties. In the Congress projections, gets 218 as against 194 of NDA, 101 for 'Third Front' and 30 for the 'Fourth Front'.
The channel quoted BJP exit polls giving UPA 170 as against NDA's 215. The 'Third Front' has been given 125 and the 'Fourth Front' 33.

Dismissing as unrealistic the projections of exit polls, NDA Convenor Sharad Yadav said on Thursday that the BJP-led alliance would get majority in the Lok Sabha.


"I have no faith in exit polls. The NDA will get majority and we will form the government headed by L K Advani," he told reporters in New Delhi.


Exit polls have shown NDA getting 185 to 196 seats in the 543-member House against 190 to 205 seats for UPA. To a question, the JD(U) President said leaders of different parties were in touch with various NDA leaders but declined to reveal their names.


Sources said while BJP was in touch with AIADMK supreme Jayalalithaa, JD(U) leaders were talking to BJD and TDP – both constituents of the Third Front, which has been given a little over 100 seats in the exit polls.


NCP leader P A Sangma is understood to have promised to support the BJP-led alliance when he met Yadav a few days back to discuss future plans.

NEW DELHI, May 13 : The curtains came down on the staggered Lok Sabha elections Wednesday with millions of Indians voting peacefully in the fifth and last round covering 86 constituencies, and the first exit polls putting the Congress-led coalition on top of a fractured verdict.

Even as both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed they would finish as the number one, an India TV exit poll telecast after balloting ended said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) could end up with 195-201 seats in the 545-member Lok Sabha.

This tally could go up to 227-237 if the seats bagged by estranged allies such as Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party were to be included. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was tipped to bag 189-195 seats and the Third Front 113-121 seats, it said.

But political leaders and analysts kept their fingers tightly crossed, with the expected cliffhanger verdict forcing both the Congress and BJP -- the two main contenders for power -- desperately scouting for new allies. As the voting progressed, some parties switched loyalties, making it one of the most difficult electoral battles to predict.

"It seems to be a very complex political situation. It is the complexity that makes it difficult to make any predictions," Kerala-based political analyst N.P. Chekutty told IANS, reflecting an opinion widely held in the world's largest democracy.

Election officials estimated that some 55 percent of the 714 million electorate - which is more than the combined population of Russia and the US - had voted over five phases starting April 16. The result will be known Saturday.

Wednesday's polling was overwhelmingly peaceful but for the murder of a political worker in Tamil Nadu and clashes in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two key states whose outcome will have a bearing on government formation in New Delhi.

The exercise involved all 39 seats of Tamil Nadu, all four seats of Himachal Pradesh and all five seats of Uttarakhand besides two in Jammu and Kashmir, nine in Punjab, 11 in West Bengal and 14 in Uttar Pradesh besides one each in Chandigarh and Pondicherry.

The most notable of the 1,432 candidates included Home Minister P. Chidambaram of the Congress (Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu) and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee (South Kolkata).

Fearing uncertain times, Indian markets turned edgy Wednesday, with a key index losing 138 points from its last closing figure at end of trade. The 30-scrip sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange opened at 12,201.93 points and fell 138.38 points or 1.14 percent from Tuesday's close.

"I'm fully confident that a BJP-led government will be formed at the centre. We will get new partners (after the polls)," BJP president Rajnath Singh said confidently. Within hours, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh asserted that his party would occupy the number one slot.

Not to be left behind, the Third Front - made up of the Communists and regional parties - announced they would meet in New Delhi Monday to decide the future course of action. The meeting would be attended by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which is widely expected to win around 40 seats, said Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and a key mover behind the Third Front.

With neither the UPA nor NDA expected to cross the magic figure of 272 in the Lok Sabha, the Congress and BJP tried to outsmart one another in order to woo leaders of smaller and regional parties.

AIADMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalitha, a key Third Front partner, said in Chennai: "There are feelers from many places. I am not responding to them now. Everything depends on the results. If the results are as expected, then I will go to Delhi."

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who in 2004 pulled off a coup by most unexpectedly worsting the BJP-led alliance in general elections, Wednesday telephoned estranged ally Ram Vilas Paswan after a fire in his house which adjoins her own in the heart of New Delhi.

Elections to the 15th Lok Sabha got off to a violent start April 16 leaving 19 people dead in coordinated attacks by Maoist guerrillas during the first round of balloting. The rest of the polling days were, however, largely peaceful.

New Delhi: Hitting out at the BJP for trying to "politicise" the Ouattrocchi issue, Congress on Tuesday said the saffron party-led NDA should have taken up the matter during its rule.

Taking a dig at the saffron party, which termed the CBI''s move as an attempt by the Congress to save "personal family friend of Gandhi family", senior party leader M Veerappa Moily said if there was any proof against the businessman, the NDA should have taken up the matter during its rule.

"We have nothing to do with Quattrocchi. The Bofors case has been in the public for over two decades. If there was any proof of his involvement in the scam, the NDA which ruled the country for seven years should have taken some steps," Moily told PTI.

The controversy erupted when the CBI asked the Interpol to take off Quattrocchi, accused in the Rs 64 crore Bofors payoff scam, from its Red Corner notice list.

Moily said Congress has never interfered in the affairs of the CBI or any other agency and will never do so in the future too.

"If we wanted to shut the case, then we could have done it when we were in power. The case took its legal course. Now, since he has been acquitted by the court, it would have been illegal to keep a notice pending against him unless there is a case," Moily said.

New Delhi, Apr 20 : Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Monday expressed confidence that the NDA would definitely cross the magic figure of 272 in the Lok Sabha elections.

Not only would the NDA get a majority on its own, the BJP would also emerge as the single largest party, Swaraj said while addressing a press conference at the Madhya Pradesh BJP office. Asked to specify the number of seats that the BJP was likely to win, she said that the party would win anything between 180 to 200 seats on its own.

The senior BJP leader, who is the party in-charge for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand said that her party can win all the 11 seats in Chhattisgarh, all the 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh and four out of six seats in Jharkhand for which polling was held in the first phase on April 16.

Sushma said that she was hurt at the type of language being used by leaders of some political parties during the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.

She claimed that when BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, L K Advani described Manmohan Singh as a weak Prime Minister, he did not attack him personally but only referred to his working style. Similarly, Sushma said that when Narendra Modi called the Congress as old, he did not mean disrespect to any person but only spoke of the organisation.

In Assam, the BJP-AGP alliance would continue till the next Assembly elections in 2011 and if won the Chief Minister would be from the regional party, Mr. Singh said.

Imphal, Apr 11 : The Third Front will emerge victorious in the coming Lok Sabha election, surging ahead of the ruling UPA and Opposition NDA, chairperson of the CPI election campaign committee in Manipur L Sotinkumar claimed today.
Addressing mediapersons while releasing the election manifesto of the CPI at Irawat Bhawan here, the CPI leader claimed that out of the 13 partners of the UPA, eight parties were ”inching” towards the Third Front while six partners of the NDA were likely to switch sides.
”The Third Front will fight for the reservation of seats for women in Parliament and work for the minorities and the organised sector,” he promised.
The primary task of CPI candidate Dr M Nara from Inner Manipur will be to work for repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958, and protection of territorial integrities of states, he added.
Mr Sotinkumar alleged that Th Chaoba, Former Union Minister, and Manipur People’s Party (MPP) candidate from Inner Manipur, had violated the code of conduct and the Election Commission will be informed about it.
L Iboyaima, Secretary, CPI, Manipur, said the CPI manifesto focuses on the fight against communal forces.
”Once the Third front emerges as a force in the Centre it will work for overall development of the people,” he added.
Communalism and terrorism will be dealt with severely, he added.
The media and judiciary will be strengthened and special focus will be given on strengthening state-Centre relations, the CPI promised.

From disciplinary issues in his party to the importance of coalition politics, Varun Gandhi to how the Tytler episode was an outcome of the Congress attitude. The PM-in-waiting, L K Advani, discusses this and more in an interview with Mohua Chatterjee. He says he is more confident about NDA forming govt after May 16 than he was two months ago.


You believe NDA will do well? Why?
Two months ago, it seemed there were small problems in the party. These were played up by the media. But they were not important because they had nothing to do with the people. Today, I am optimistic. I believe NDA will get a majority. Within a month of elections being declared, UPA has disintegrated. Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh, Ram Vilas Paswan have gone their way. NDA has a better history of participation in coalition politics. The way Atal Bihari Vajpayee ran the NDA government is there for people to judge.

What’s your view on coalitions?
Coalition politics will be there for sometime to come — till the polity of this country turns bipolar. Smaller parties are important to project the aspirations of regions in a pluralistic country. Punjab and Mizoram are two examples. The likes of Mizo National Front (MNF) or TDP cannot be wished away. What I am worried about are parties which have to do with caste politics and caste leaders. As for our own coalition, there are small differences between parties, but that makes no difference in our functioning. We did not compromise, like UPA. There has been criminalisation of politics, but the first time there were criminals in the ministry was during the UPA regime.


Do you believe there is a problem of discipline in BJP?
There is no problem of discipline in the party. When the party is small and most of the work has to be done sitting in Opposition, then problems don’t crop up. Problems come up when we become a party of governance and become very large. It is natural. No point crying about it.

Party of governance — what is the problem with that?
While in Opposition, what do you fight over? I did not get this post, I have not got my due... these are issues that never came up earlier. I believe that in my generation, one came into politics for considerations that were totally different. The inspiration was different: First to get independence, then nation building... after 40-50 years to expect that the new generation will also have the same view is unfair. I often say about my young colleagues that in some fields, they are more capable than us. In others if they seem any less than us, that is because we have more experience. But these people (GenNext) are doing very well in different professions like law, medicine etc as well. They would like to acquaint themselves well with that profession too. There is nothing wrong with that. For many of us who joined politics at an early age, it was not a profession at all. It was purely a mission. I cannot expect the same from those who are joining BJP today.

What do you have to say about Varun Gandhi?
It is wrong to invoke NSA during elections. I have never compared him with Jaiprakash Narayan. But those who think that by putting Varun behind bars, he will lose are wrong. BJP has nothing to do with what is being attributed to him. Varun himself has said that the CDs were fake and it was not his voice. We have asked all our candidates to exercise restraint.

NDA government did little on the Jagdish Tytler case...
As home minister, I went to the Rajya Sabha... it was December 6. Opposition Congress disrupted the House and it was adjourned. They do it every year. Afterwards, we sat together and Manmohan Singh was there and so were some others. I asked him if he had thought about the fact that there were some who had an interest in ensuring that December 6 wasn’t forgotten. If I think purely politically, I can have an interest in ensuring that no Sikh in Punjab forgets October 31. But I did not do that. Because I have seen the kind of distress that was created in Punjab. I used to pray for it to end. And without thinking of any of this, they do this every December 6, just for votes.

Are you missing Vajpayee?
There are two things different in elections 2009. The first is an unhappy feeling — it’s the first time that Vajpayeeji is not beside me. The second is a happy feeling — first time, we are fighting elections when the party has a government of its own in the south, in Karnataka. Before this, we were looked at as a north India-based party.

Ahmedabad, Apr 9- BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani said that he sensed over confidence among party cadres and warned them that this could lead the same situation which resulted in the defeat of NDA in 2004 general elections.
“The party workers were over confident due to the good work done by the BJP-led government at the Centre especially the Golden Quadrilateral and the Prime Minister rural road scheme projects,” Advani said.
“Today I see the same over confidence amongst party workers. This might end up making same mistakes which we did in 2004,” he added.
“All the meetings with party workers in those areas were bigger than the BJP-Shiv Sena meeting in Shivaji Park in Mumbai,” Advani said, adding that it gave him the confidence to think that the nation has decided to vote NDA to power.
“But, I just want to warn you that don’t be under any false illusion. But at the same time there should not be decrease in the confidence,” Advani told the gathering.
“The micro management of the booth should be organised in such a manner that there is at least 60 per cent voting on the polling day. Last time in 2004 it was only 43 per cent,” he said.
Advani also urged the party workers to ensure that maximum number of women and first time voters cast their votes on April 30.
He asked them to identify people in the constituency who are educated and well off but do not vote.
“Try and bring them for voting. That would be a great help,” Advani added.

Bhopal/New Delhi: In a surprising admission just a fortnight before the start of the Lok Sabha elections, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj voiced doubts whether the party-led NDA will get a majority on its own.

Swaraj, who is contesting the elections from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh for which she is the party in-charge, however said that if the NDA emerged as the single largest coalition then with post-poll alliances the BJP-led grouping will be able to form the government.

"I am not sure that NDA will get majority on its own. But if NDA emerges as single largest coalition then with post-poll alliances we will be able to form government with that," Swaraj told reporters in Bhopal.

An apparently embarassed BJP sought to quickly snub Sushma saying the NDA will form the government.

"We are strong, we are fighting under the leadership of Mr Advani and we should be there to form the government," BJP spokesman Siddarth Nath Singh said in New Delhi.

In reply to a question, Sushma said there was no question of the BJP distancing itself from Varun Gandhi, the party candidate from Pilibhit for the Lok Sabha elections, following his controversial hate speeches which saw the stringent NSA being slapped on him. Sushma had earlier suggested that the BJP was not inclined to utilise the services of Varun for its poll campaign outside Pilibhit.

In a candid admission just a fortnight before elections, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj Wednesday said she was not confident of the party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) getting a majority.

Swaraj, who is in charge of her party for Madhya Pradesh, said in Bhopal: “I am not sure if the NDA will get a majority.”

However, if “the NDA emerges as a single largest coalition (after the elections)”, it could form the government with post-poll alliances, she said.

At a press conference in the state capital, the senior BJP leader said there was no confusion in her party over the issue of Varun Gandhi, the party’s candidate in Pilibhit who has been jailed under the National Security Act (NSA) for his alleged inflammatory speeches, nor was the party distancing itself from him.

Swaraj said the party disapproved of the alleged “hate speeches”, if he had made any, but was against the discriminatory treatment meted out to him by the Election Commission and the slapping of National Security Act (NSA) by the Uttar Pradesh government.

Accusing the Election Commission of adopting double standards on the issue, the BJP leader said “people like Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmed” were allowed to contest polls in this country while it was advised that Varun Gandhi should not be fielded. “There should be one yardstick”.

Ansari, from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and Ahmed, who was with the Samajwadi Party and has now joined the Apna Dal, have criminal cases against them.

On Samajwadi Party’s Sanjay Dutt not contesting from Lucknow seat, she said: “It hardly makes any difference because the BJP will win the prestigious seat held by (former prime minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the voters in Lucknow see the BJP candidate (Lalji Tandon) as their representative”.

Swaraj conceded that the absence of Vajpayee, who is not contesting because of his ill health, was being felt “very much” by the party but added that “his blessings and guidance are with us”.

On the NDA’s election issues, she said the BJP and its allies would tell the people about the Congress-led government’s failures including price rise, terrorism, retrenchment of employees, farmer’s suicides and the “compromise” with the sovereignty of the nation while signing the India-US nuclear deal.

Connived in ‘secret killings’ of kin of ULFA leaders


Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday alleged that there were reasons to believe that the Home Ministry during the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime had “connived” with the Prafulla Kumar Mahanta-led Assam government to carry out ‘secret killing’ of family members of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) leaders and others in the State.

Mr. Gogoi told journalists here that the fact that the NDA government had not tried to stop the secret killings during the AGP rule gave rise to this suspicion.

Reacting to allegation by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani that the Congress had ignored the infiltration problem by not including it in the poll manifesto, Mr. Gogoi said issues like development, unemployment, education, floods and health were the priorities for the Congress. “We are not giving topmost priority to infiltration,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the entire focus of Mr. Advani’s election campaign in the State was the infiltration problem as if there were no other issues.

Accusing the BJP of “communalising” the foreigners’ problem, Mr. Gogoi said the party considered the Hindu foreigners as refugees. “A foreigner is a foreigner. He or she cannot be distinguished on the basis of religion,” the Chief Minister said.

Refuting Mr. Advani’s allegation that the Congress-led governments at the Centre had been neglecting Assam, he claimed that compared to the NDA rule, the State got more projects and assistance during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. During the NDA tenure, Assam got Rs. 495.25 crore under the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) as against Rs. 1,602 crore during the UPA regime.

Kochi March 20 : The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), if elected to power, would introduce a pension scheme for farmers, reduce the interest rate on farm loans and bring back POTA to reinforce the fight against terrorism, senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said here today.

"If NDA comes to power, within 100 days farmers' pension scheme will be introduced, 33 per cent reservation for women will be brought in, POTA will be brought back and terrorist Afzal Guru will be hanged," he said.

Inaugurating the election convention of A N Radhakrishnan, the BJP candidate in Ernakulam seat, Naidu said the NDA would reduce the farmers' interest rate to four per cent and introduce crop insurance, besides a pension scheme.

A 'revolutionary scheme' under which Rs 18,000 would be deposited in the name of every girl child born in a family, would also be introduced. The amount would mature to Rs one lakh by the time she turns 21, to be used for her future expenses, Naidu said.

Dismissing the Third Front as a "non starter", he said it had no agreement on a leader, agenda, programme and seat sharing. Its leaders, during a recent meeting, had agreed only one thing and that was to "disagree on all issues", he said.

"While UPA and the third front are struggling to find a leader, the BJP and its allies were the first to declare that our leader is L K Advani, the modern Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the iron man of India," he said.

Bangalore, Mar 13 : Ahead of the Lok Sabha General Elections, the Left and some regional parties on Thursday joined hands to cobble up an eight-party Third Front in a bid to form an alternative to the combines led by the Congress and BJP.

The combine spearheaded by JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda was launched at a poll rally in Tumkur district in Karnataka. The new Front comprises the Left--CPI-M, CPI, RSP, Forward Bloc, TDP, TRS, JD-S and Bhajan Lal's Haryana Janahit Party.

AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Ms.Mayawati were not personally present at the rally, but send their senior representatives.

Leaders of the new alliance said both the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA have failed to address people's grievances and discounted suggestions that some regional parties are coming together on an opportunistic platform.

Describing the get together of all democratic, secular and left parties in the country as historic , CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said the third force stands for the interests of the vast masses for the firm defence of secularism against communal forces. Former Prime Minister, H.D.Deve Gowda, who hosted the rally, said the force would come out with a national policy document on the basis of which it will seek votes in the coming elections.

TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu said the Front will have a meeting with Mayawati on Sunday to discuss issues like its prime ministerial candidate.

Meanwhile, the Congress on Thursday described the Third Front as a big illusion of Indian politics but at the same time cautioned that whenever such grouping has resurrected it has only helped the communal forces. Dismissing the claims of the Third Front that it is emerging as an alternative, the party spokesman Mr. Manish Tiwari said that the Front is like a spectre which appears every time in two-three years to show that it is not irrelevant and then disappears.

The BJP, on the other hand said the country faces several challenges and needs a stable government and going by the the earlier experience of Third Front, its re-emergence does not spell good for the country.
The party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Front, which is basically a Left oriented initiative, is an illusion and not any formidable force as it is making out to be.

New Delhi, March 9 : BJD’s desertion of NDA is a big jolt to Advani & BJP. BJD’s desertion of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has given a body blow to BJP’s chances in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

BJP will realize the fact when its tally and those of its alliance partners in the NDA in the Lok Sabha goes down sharply.

The BJP may be amazed over the way BJD and its leadership tried to split from NDA.

The split was imminent as BJD may not be seen as someone patronizing the communal onslaught in the state by BJP and its sister concerns in the RSS.

Cracks appeared in the ruling Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in Orissa over the Kandhamal issue.

Sparked by the murder of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati on August 23, 2008, anti-Christian violence swept through in Orissa during a bandh (strike) on August 25, 2008 and continued for almost two months.

Even today about thousands of Christians – mostly Dalits and a few tribals – languish in state-run relief camps and are afraid to return home due to continuing threats by Hindu extremists.

Maoist militants claimed responsibility for the swami’s murder, but rightwing Hindu groups blamed Christians and attacked Christians in 14 of 30 districts.

A Christian community leader says, “Of the 54,000 displaced Christians, about 24,000 victims were in 14 government relief camps until some camps were closed and victims asked to return to their villages.

However, due to ongoing threats of attacks and forced conversions, most victims fled to private relief camps in major cities of Orissa or bordering states. Many will never return home.”

According to the Christian Legal Association of India, over 1,800 complaints about crimes including arson, assault, and murder were collected in the last three months.

Aicc has assisted in collecting complaints from victims in relief camps. Lawyers made at least 800 of these into First Information Reports (FIRs) which are filed with police.

Hundreds, including a few Christians, were arrested but most released on bail. Fast track courts, promised by the state government, are not functioning yet.

Probably this was the reason that BJD was more eager to break the alliance with the BJP.

KOLKATA, Mar 8 : The National Democratic Alliance’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani on Friday dismissed the possibility of a third front assuming power at the Centre after the Lok Sabha polls, as “India has been divided into a bipolar polity.”

“No government is possible that is not assisted by either the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party,” Mr. Advani said here.

“The choice is very clear.” What the BJP-led NDA will take to the people is the offer of “good governance, development and security.”

The country saw what the United Progressive Alliance government — “that of Sonia Gandhi, not of Manmohan Singh” — had had to offer the people in the past five years.

Though the NDA government “went [out of power] in 2004 because of overconfidence,” the UPA government “is the first one that cannot show the public one single thing that it might have done for their good,” Mr. Advani said.

“It [the UPA] has failed on all fronts — economic, social and on security.”