‘Third Front appears to be falling apart’

The Third Front appears to be falling apart with the Samajwadi Party blaming AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa for "creating confusion"

The Third Front appears to be falling apart with the Samajwadi Party on Monday blaming AIADMK

supremo Jayalalithaa for “creating confusion” by her statement whether the Front existed and complaining that she was not even taking the phone calls of SP leaders.

SP General Secretary Amar Singh told reporters that he has not been able to reach Jayalalithaa despite constant telephone calls for the past three days. “I have been able to reach only Kartikeyan, her secretary”.

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Singh also put the onus of ‘lack of coordination’ in Parliament on Monday on her statement. “The confusion arose because of her statement”.

In a veiled attack on the AIADMK, the SP leader said that similar confusion arose in the Front during the Presidential election when Jayalalithaa’s partymen had voted, ignoring the Front’s decision to abstain.

Singh steered clear of Jayalalithaa’s meeting with BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad in Chennai last week, which was the first interaction she had with any BJP leader after parting ways with NDA after the 2004 polls. “You ask Prasad”, he merely said.

Singh’s comments came a day after Jayalalithaa’s remarks that she wondered whether the Front, formally known as the United National Progressive Alliance, existed at all and whether her party was part of the Front.