The 17 regional parties that met on Tuesday gave no signal they will form a Third Front - an alternative to alliances led by Congress and BJP - anytime soon but their leaders stressed upon the need to unite against communal and divisive forces, a euphemism for any BJP-led formation.
Leading the charge was Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who said, "Democratic forces should forge maximum possible unity to defeat the threat fascism, communalism and terrorism posed to the country."
"Does this convention mean formation of a new front? As of today, this is not the case. But the 17 parties that have assembled here have to maintain maximum possible unity defeat such powers," he said.
Nitish was addressing the Left-sponsored 'Convention against Communalism', viewed as the step towards forging the Third Front before the Lok Sabha polls, at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi.
Speculation was rife that Nitish could be projected as the Front's PM candidate and answer to BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi when the Left started moves to bring regional parties together.
Warning people about the "kind of politics emerging in the country", the Bihar CM said the regional parties felt the need to raise voice against communalism together after Muzaffarnagar riots in which at least 60 people were killed and 40,000 others displaced amid reports the violence was engineered by politicians for electoral gains.
Attacking Modi for the second time in as many days, Nitish said "some people were so desperate to unfurl Tricolour at Red Fort that they were making replicas of the Fort at their poll rallies".
On Tuesday, Nitish likened the Gujarat strongman to Hitler and warned the people that "fascist" forces were trying to gain ground in the country, a day after Modi accused him of betraying the NDA, a reference to the bitter split between the BJP and JD-U in the state over Modi's elevation as PM candidate.
"Their rise is a threat to freedom of the press too. Media will not be able to operate freely. There is a threat to democracy and free speech," he said.
Taking a dig at Modi's model of development, he said, "A choice has to be made between models which favour corporate houses or inclusive models which focus on the development of common man."
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who said on Tuesday the next PM would come from the Third Front, told the convention "at least we got together. If we unite, communal forces will not able to raise their head".
"We have crushed communal forces and we will continue to crush communal forces whenever they rear there head again," he said.
Yadav's colleague Ram Gopal said Wednesday's meeting was a "beginning" for the shape of things to come in the future.
CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the convention's objective was to "save the country from communalism", while key UPA ally Nationalist Congress Party's Praful Patel defended its participation by saying "we have to keep our options open of working with other parties in the era of coalition politics".
In a swift reaction to Nitish's attack on Modi, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad asked why the Bihar CM was silent on the corruption charges against UPA and the Congress.
Prasad said Nitish already accepted the "certainty that Modi will be the next prime minister" because he has focused his speech only on him.
On the convention in Delhi, Prasad said: "There is a ritual going on in Delhi, the quest for an illusory Third Front. The Third Front is history, with no relevance today."
The convention was also attended by CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat, NCP's DP Tripathi, JD(S) leader and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, AIADMK's M Thambidurai and CPI's AB Bardhan among others.
Leading the charge was Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who said, "Democratic forces should forge maximum possible unity to defeat the threat fascism, communalism and terrorism posed to the country."
"Does this convention mean formation of a new front? As of today, this is not the case. But the 17 parties that have assembled here have to maintain maximum possible unity defeat such powers," he said.
Nitish was addressing the Left-sponsored 'Convention against Communalism', viewed as the step towards forging the Third Front before the Lok Sabha polls, at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi.
Speculation was rife that Nitish could be projected as the Front's PM candidate and answer to BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi when the Left started moves to bring regional parties together.
Warning people about the "kind of politics emerging in the country", the Bihar CM said the regional parties felt the need to raise voice against communalism together after Muzaffarnagar riots in which at least 60 people were killed and 40,000 others displaced amid reports the violence was engineered by politicians for electoral gains.
Attacking Modi for the second time in as many days, Nitish said "some people were so desperate to unfurl Tricolour at Red Fort that they were making replicas of the Fort at their poll rallies".
On Tuesday, Nitish likened the Gujarat strongman to Hitler and warned the people that "fascist" forces were trying to gain ground in the country, a day after Modi accused him of betraying the NDA, a reference to the bitter split between the BJP and JD-U in the state over Modi's elevation as PM candidate.
"Their rise is a threat to freedom of the press too. Media will not be able to operate freely. There is a threat to democracy and free speech," he said.
Taking a dig at Modi's model of development, he said, "A choice has to be made between models which favour corporate houses or inclusive models which focus on the development of common man."
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who said on Tuesday the next PM would come from the Third Front, told the convention "at least we got together. If we unite, communal forces will not able to raise their head".
"We have crushed communal forces and we will continue to crush communal forces whenever they rear there head again," he said.
Yadav's colleague Ram Gopal said Wednesday's meeting was a "beginning" for the shape of things to come in the future.
CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the convention's objective was to "save the country from communalism", while key UPA ally Nationalist Congress Party's Praful Patel defended its participation by saying "we have to keep our options open of working with other parties in the era of coalition politics".
In a swift reaction to Nitish's attack on Modi, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad asked why the Bihar CM was silent on the corruption charges against UPA and the Congress.
Prasad said Nitish already accepted the "certainty that Modi will be the next prime minister" because he has focused his speech only on him.
On the convention in Delhi, Prasad said: "There is a ritual going on in Delhi, the quest for an illusory Third Front. The Third Front is history, with no relevance today."
The convention was also attended by CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat, NCP's DP Tripathi, JD(S) leader and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, AIADMK's M Thambidurai and CPI's AB Bardhan among others.
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