SP not enthused by Mamata Front, neither is Sharad’s JD-U

The Trinamool Congress leaders are not the only ones who use "ifs and buts" when asked about the federal front envisaged by party chief Mamata Banerjee to take on the Congress-led UPA government. Even the local unit of Samajwadi Party thinks so. The SP believes that the idea of the front of regional political parties mooted by Mamata may not see the light of the day before the next Lok Sabha elections.

"The federal front is not likely to be materialised before the Lok Sabha elections. The scene will become clear only after the election is held either in 2013 or in 2014. There is a strong possibility of a non-Congress and non BJP government at the Centre because the Congress will not cross the double digit mark in the election and BJP is also not in a position to come close to forming the government. The non-BJP, non-Congress parties will come together after the election. Before election, there will be movement against both the Congress and BJP by the regional parties," SP Rajya Sabha member and party general secretary Kiranmoy Nanda told The Indian Express.

Even though Trinamool leaders made it clear that the proposed front will not have CPM as a constituent, Nanda chose to remain non-committal on whether there is any possibility of having the Left parties in the proposed alliance. "I cannot comment on this. This will be decided later. But what all I can say is that the Congress and the BJP are not in a position to perform well in the next Lok Sabha poll and the regional parties together hold the key in forming the next government at the Centre."

Asked whether SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will attend Mamata's anti-FDI rally in Lucknow on November 17, Nanda said: "We support such rallies, but it is premature to say anything on SP's role during the event. We will discuss it in the party. But we have been opposing FDI for the past three years like Trinamool Congress. There are several issues on which the view of the SP matches with that of the Trinamool," Nanda said.

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