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Third front beyond the realm of possibility

With the BJP and Congress well-entrenched in the politically awakened hill state of Himachal, there has been little space for the emergence of a viable third front. All experiments to form a third front in the past have ended in a fiasco. The state has been witnessing a change of guards after every Assembly election since 1985 and the BJP and Congress share power alternately.

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Bhanu P Lohumi

With the BJP and Congress well-entrenched in the politically awakened hill state of Himachal, there has been little space for the emergence of a viable third front. All experiments to form a third front in the past have ended in a fiasco. The state has been witnessing a change of guards after every Assembly election since 1985 and the BJP and Congress share power alternately.

For years, Himachal was considered a Congress bastion, but even when there was no major Opposition political party to challenge the Congress, the independents filled the vacuum. There was no significant presence of any major Opposition party in the state till simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha poll were held in 1967, which was the first election in the state after the merger of hilly areas of Punjab (November 1, 1966). 

In the 1967 elections, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) won seven out of 60 Assembly seats, followed by the CPI (2), but the number of independents was 16. The Opposition members formed the Samyukt Vidhayak Dal (SVD) with former Speaker Thakur Sen Negi as its leader.

Emergence of the Lok Raj Party

Former Speaker Thakur Sen Negi floated the Lok Raj Party in 1970 and entered into an alliance with the BJS in 1971 Lok Sabha poll, which marked the beginning of emergence of alliance politics. The BJS contested the Kangra and Hamirpur seats, while LRP which contested Shimla (reserve) and Mandi seats, suffered humiliating defeat. The LRP contested the 1972 Assembly poll, but could win only two seats and the party merged with the Congress ahead of Lok Sabha poll in February 1977.

Janta Dal could not sustain 

The emergence of Janta Dal of former Prime Minister VP Singh raised hopes for the revival of the third front and prominent leaders including former Chief Minister Ram Lal Thakur, former ministers Shiv Kumar and Shyama Sharma, firebrand leader Vijay Singh Mankotia and Kanwar Durga Chand joined the party, but it failed to make any significant impact in 1989 Lok Sabha poll and Mankotia, who contested from Kangra, finished third and BJP leader Shanta Kumar won with a big margin.

However, the Janta Dal forged an alliance with BJP in 1990 Assembly poll and won 11 of 17 seats allotted to it, while the BJP won 46 out of 51 seats contested by it. The JD relegated the Congress party to the third position, which won only nine seats.

Janta Dal  was not included in BJP government led by Shanta Kumar and the party split ahead of dismissal of BJP government in the aftermath of Babri mosque demolition and eight members joined the Congress, while three members embraced the BJP.

The rise and fall of Himachal Vikas Congress

Former Union communication minister Sukh Ram floated the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) in 1997 after he was arrested in the telecom scam and the party contested the 1998 Assembly poll. The HVC won five Assembly seats and was instrumental in the formation of BJP-HVC coalition government and also won the Shimla (reserve) Lok Sabha seat in 1999 midterm poll.

The rise of the party within a short span of two years was phenomenal, but the party did not last long and was reduced to one seat in 2003 Assembly poll and Sukh Ram merged his outfit with the Congress ahead of 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Its lone MP also joined the Congress before the merger of the party with the Congress and won the election again on a Congress ticket.

HLP floated by BJP dissidents

BJP dissidents floated the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) in 2012 under the leadership of three-time MP and former state BJP chief Maheshwar Singh, which also survived for a short span. The party won only one seat in 2012 Assembly elections, but marred the prospects of the ruling BJP in many other seats and scripted defeat.

The HLP also split in August 2016 and party president and a majority of leaders joined the BJP, but the splinter group led by former minister Mohinder Nath Sofat did not follow the party line and joined the Aam Adami Party (AAP) after a few months and the experiment failed again.

Why third front experiments have failed repeatedly

  • The main reason for the repeated collapse of the third front was that it was floated by dissidents and disgruntled leaders of the Congress or the BJP and devoid of strong ideological moorings.
  • In 2014 Lok Sabha poll and 2017 Assembly elections, there was virtual straight contest between the BJP and the Congress, as there was no potential third front although AAP contested on Lok Sabha seats. In the past Assembly elections, the CPI (M) won one seat in 1972, 1993 and 2017 Assembly poll and CPI won one seat in 1962, two in 1967 and one in 1990, but it was an aberration and not an indication of emergent and sustainable third force.
  • Senior Congress leader Vijay Singh Mankotia, who revolted again in 2007 and joined the BSP to revive the third front, could win only one seat of Kangra and he himself lost from Dharmsala. Later, he quit the BSP, rejoined the Congress and unsuccessfully contested the 2012 and 2017 Assembly poll as Congress candidate from Shahpur.

‘Paucity of resources, harsh topography to blame’

Though the idea of the third front appeals a lot to people, it has been unsuccessful in the state as far as Lok Sabha election is concerned. Paucity of resources, as money plays a vital role, difficulties faced in booth-level management, vast area and harsh topography of Himachal are some of the constraints, while the BJP and Congress which have been sharing the power alternately have manpower and machinery and national leaders, who can cover big constituencies adequately. Further, the credibility of the leaders is not high as in most cases, leaders who are denied tickets by the BJP or Congress normally form the third front in the state. I tried to form a viable third front twice, once with Janta Dal and second time with the BSP, but did not succeed. The Janta Dal formed with the support of prominent leaders did not last long, as we were compelled to forge an alliance with the BJP as VP Singh formed the government at the Centre with the outside support of the BJP. We were given 17 out of 68 seats in 1990 Assembly poll, which was fought in alliance with BJP and won 11 seats, but later Janta Dal split. Second time, inspired by the BSP slogan of social engineering, another experiment was made in 2007 ahead of the Assembly poll and we got 7.8 per cent of vote share and marred the Congress’ prospects in 18 seats. — Vijay Singh Mankotia, Member, Indian National Congress

‘Left hasn’t penetrated deep’

}Third front experiments have failed in the past due to the lack of the alternate policies. Unless the Left, which can address the issues of people, attract their imagination, is able to advance in the state, we cannot have a viable alternative to the Congress and BJP. Growth of the Left parties has to be based on the organic culture, geography, economy and traditions of the state. However, the Left has not penetrated deep, as Himachal did not witness industrial growth and the expansion of working class. — Rakesh Singha, CPI-M MLA from Theog

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