Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Janata Dal (Secular) have already formed an alliance in the state and as the assembly elections are approaching more parties are expected to be joining which may form a third front to take on the incumbent BJP and opposition Congress.
This week, the possible third front is said to take a step further and form a new political party which will be announced by the Jat leader Hanuman Beniwal who is holding a rally in Jaipur’s Mansarover area on October 29. Just a day before Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is also expected to be in Jaipur who will kick off the party’s campaign in Ramlila ground.
Beniwal is already in talks with the BJP rebel Ghanshyam Tiwari who was MLA from Sanganer (Jaipur). After quitting the party he formed one Bharat Vahini Party (BVP). While Beniwal is popular among the Jat youth, Tiwari is aiming to sway the 7% Brahmins in the state.
Earlier in September this year, former prime minister and JD (S) leader HD Deve Gowda had also announced the Rajasthan Loktantrik Morcha (RLM) in Jaipur. Besides the SP, RLD and JD (S) this party comprises of four Left parties — Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and Marxist Communist Party of India (United).
Amra Ram who is the president of CPI (M)’s farmer body, the All India Kisan Sabha, had said, “Both the Congress and the BJP are like two sides of the same coin. When we agitated for 13 days in September last year over demands of farmers from across the Shekhawati region, none of the Congress leaders spoke in our favor. The government gave in to our demands on September 14 and the Congress jumped in to claim credit”.
“We are open to more parties joining the alliance to defeat the BJP and the Congress in the state,” Ram further added.
Claiming that the October 29 ‘Maha-hunkar Rally’ will be the biggest political gathering in recent past, Beniwal said it will be a historic event in Rajasthan’s political history.
Beniwal also asserted that he will likely start talks with the alliance and other parties after announcing a party on October 29. After the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) ruled out an alliance with the Congress in Rajasthan, Beniwal and the Loktantrik Morcha are also trying to get Mayawati’s party on their side.
BSP state president Sitaram Meghwal has said, “We have not spoken to any party in the state. Our leader Mayawati has said that BSP will contest on all 200 seats. If the leader gives any orders in future, we will abide by them”.
Rajasthan’s political history has mainly seen the government of either BJP or Congress. There has never been a great success for the third front. The best performance of other than BJP or Congress has been in the year 1993 when the Janata Dal won six seats with 6.9% votes, and in 2008, when the BSP won six seats with 7.6% votes.