Devegowda predicts rise of Third Front

CALCUTTA, APRIL 29: Janata Dal (S) leader and former prime minister H D Devegowda on Saturday asserted that a secular alternative to both ...

CALCUTTA, APRIL 29: Janata Dal (S) leader and former prime minister H D Devegowda on Saturday asserted that a secular alternative to both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress would emerge as a major political force with the help of regional parties.

"Results in the recent assembly elections in four states indicate that the performance of the BJP and Congress had shown a sharp decline. The situation compels the formation of an alternative political arrangement," he said at a press conference here.

Stating that such an alternative front would be formed with the help of regional parties, he said, "The situation is such that not even the Congress can come to power at the Centre without the help of regional parties".

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Devegowda, who was scheduled to meet West Bengal Chief Minster Jyoti Basu later on Saturday, parried the question whether Basu would be projected as Prime Minister if the Third Front came to power. "At present, we are only busy in forming the Front," he said.

Asserting that the JD(S) would be equidistant from both the BJP and Congress, the former prime minister said his "immediate priority" was to strengthen his party which had split before the 13th Lok Sabha polls.