This Article is From Apr 05, 2009

UPA turns into divided progressive alliance

New Delhi:

Did Sonia Gandhi's words put pressure on Sharad Pawar? Was the Congress's warning the reason Pawar skipped the BJD left rally on Friday?

 

The official reason given was that his plane developed a snag so he couldn't reach in time. But Pawar did address the rally with D Raja holding up the phone.

 

The Left may lend a helping to Pawar, but he is distancing himself rather diplomatically from the comrades.

 

"A B Bardhan has made it clear I am not a member of the Third Front," Sharad Pawar said in Mumbai on Friday.

 

So the much anticipated Orissa rally, which many felt was the beginning of yet another front, in the end was a damp squib.

 

Sharad Pawar's absence has taken the fizz out of today's rally in Bhubaneswar. But the Left would still like to believe that Pawar is not far away.

 

CPI general secretary A B Bardhan says: "We never said Sharad Pawar is in the Third Front. But h is certainly moving away from the UPA...that is a matter of fact."

 

If a new front faltered in Orrisa, across the country another one emerged of a trio the congress doesn't know what to make of.

 

The three strongmen - Lalu, Paswan and Mulayam -- have come together to campaign in UP, Bihar and Maharashtra...in an attempt to consolidate the backward Dalit and minority votes.

 

They will battle with the Congress - but pledge support to the UPA.

 

Lalu Prasad Yadav, RJP president, said in Lucknow: "The SP-RJD-LJP alliance has such a big impact that others have lost their sleep. We will certainly form the UPA government."

 

The SP-RJD-LJP alliance has such a big impact that others have lost their sleep. We will certainly form the UPA government.  

 

LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan says: "Manmohan Singh was the prime ministerial candidate of the UPA alliance, not just of the Congress. All of us have chosen him as our candidate. We don't know what the Congress wants to do later, but he continues to be our candidate."

 

Lalu and Paswan are now on Mulayam's cycle. But is it a front within a front. The fourth front or a redesigned UPA. Simply speaking, it is a front against all rivals. A pressure group if Congress returns to power. And a contender for power if the Congress falters.

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