Akhilesh tones tough stance,but Third Front talk persists

Akhilesh Yadav,who will be Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh,refused to go beyond initially welcoming the debate on Third Front as a “good beginning” but has steadfastly refused to go beyond that.

“My priority now now is to set UP on the road of prosperity,” he said when asked by reporters further on the issue.

On his meeting with leaders of various parties in Parliament,where he had come to attend the President’s address today,Akhilesh Yadav denied his party was in touch with Left parties and others to establish a Third Front.

Decisions on Third Front would be taken by his party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and other leaders,he added.

However,leaders like Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar or RJD leader Lalu Prasad discount the possibility of either a Third Front or snap polls.

Kumar said the NDA was prepared for mid-term Lok Sabha polls but maintained that UPA would “cling” to power till its full term.

On speculation about revival of the Third Front,he said the contours of such a front were yet to take shape. Kumar also made it clear that his party JD(U) was part of the NDA.

Lalu Prasad also dismissed all talk of Third Front as unnecessary speculation.

However,Biju Janata Dal,whose supremo and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik,has,of late,tried to united non-Congress Chief Ministers on federal issues,said efforts are on to form a “federal front” of like-minded parties.

“We are not not for Third Front or Fourth Front. We are for a federal front….We are in the making of a federal front,” BJD leader B Mahtab told reporters.

National Conference leader and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah,who has been invited to the swearing in ceremony in Punjab,sought to play it down saying Prakash Singh Badal was like a father figure to him and he would attend the function “if permitted”.

However,he hastened to add that he has “work” in Parliament on that day. “By the invitation (to him),no storm has struck. I am loyal to UPA,” Abdullah added.

Replying to a question about the talk of Third Front,Trinamool Congress leader and Union Minister Sultan Ahmed said the issue has to be discussed.

“We have some issues like the NCTC but these can be resolved through discussion,” he said.

His party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declined to take questions on the possibility of snap polls at a press conference in Kolkata.