Third front a failed experiment in state

Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service
Shimla, April 6

With the main political parties, the BJP and the Congress, occupying the space in politics, the emergence of the third force seems unlikely in the coming poll. Left parties have a limited influence in some areas and never won any Lok Sabha seat in the state.

The third front had proved to be a failed experience and this time too, the possibilities of the third front emerging as potential force are very bleak as neither Left parties nor AAP, nor any regional party have strength and capacity to dent the support base of the BJP and the Congress.

It was only in the 1999 poll that Dhani Ram Shandil of the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC), which was a coalition partner in the BJP government, won the Shimla (Reserved) seat. Even Vijai Singh Mankotia, who contested the Lok Sabha polls from Kangra in 1989 as Janata Dal candidate, polled 74,983 (14.77 per cent) votes and finished third.

The Janata Dal had forged an alliance with the BJP in 1990 Assembly poll and won 11 out of the 17 seats contested by it. However, the alliance did not last as the Janata Dal split and eight members joined the Congress in 1992.

Earlier, in the 1971 poll also, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and Lok Raj Party had forged an alliance and contested two seats each. The alliance failed to win any seat and later Lok Raj Party also disintegrated and most of its MLAs joined the Congress in February 1977. The Janata Party won all four seats in 1977 but after the fall of the party government at the Centre, the party split and the Janata Dal (Secular), which contested three seats in the 1980 poll, came a cropper and polled only 5.33 per cent votes.

Similarly, the HVC, floated by former Union Communication Minister Sukh Ram in 1997, merged with the Congress ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha poll and the experiment failed again.

In 2007, BJP dissidents floated the HLP led by former MP Maheshwar Singh but later it also merged with the BJP. In 2014, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also contested the poll but failed to make any impact, polling just 2.1 per cent votes and this time, there is no serious effort to form a third front.

Alliance — a futile attempt

• In the 1971 poll, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and Lok Raj Party forged an alliance and contested two seats each. The alliance failed to win any seat and later Lok Raj Party also disintegrated and most of its MLAs joined the Congress in February 1977
• The Janata Party won all four seats in 1977 but after the fall of the party government at the Centre, the party split and the Janata Dal (Secular), which contested three seats in the 1980 poll, came a cropper and polled only 5.33 per cent votes
• Even Vijai Singh Mankotia, who contested the Lok Sabha poll from Kangra in 1989 as Janata Dal acandidate, polled 74,983 (14.77 per cent) votes and finished third.
• The Janata Dal had forged an alliance with the BJP in 1990 Assembly poll and won 11 out of the 17 seats contested by it. However, the alliance did not last as the Janata Dal split and eight members joined the Congress in 1992.