Rajasthan Assembly Polls 2018: Will a third front be able to oust BJP and Congress from the state?

Congress BJP, BJP Congress

Just weeks before Rajasthan is scheduled to go to polls, a third front is emerging in the state, Hindustan Times has reported.

Many political parties, barring the BJP and its nemesis Congress, are coming together to oust the national parties from the state.

The Left parties have forged an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Janata Dal (Secular). Besides, the state is witnessing an influx of new players in the state.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal will also be in Jaipur on October 28 to kick off his party's campaign in Rajasthan.

Read Also: Congress likely to win Rajasthan, says opinion poll

Jat leader Hanuman Beniwal is expected to announce a new political party during a rally in Jaipur on October 29.  Beniwal is also reportedly in talks with BJP MLA (Sanganer, Jaipur) Ghanshyam Tiwari, who recently quit the ruling party and floated his own Bharat Vahini Party (BVP). While Beniwal is popular among the Jats, Tiwari aims to target the 7 percent Brahmins in the state. However, Beniwal said he will consider alliances only after he formally floats his party.

In the meantime, former PM HD Deve Gowda floated the Rajasthan Loktantrik Morcha in Jaipur last month. The forum comprises 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) — besides the SP, RLD and JD(S).

Raising concerns over how the incumbent BJP and the previous Congress government dealt with farmer’s issues, farmer’s offshoot of the CPI(M), All India Kisan Sabha, said both the national parties “are like two sides of the same coin”.

“We are open to more parties joining the alliance to defeat the BJP and the Congress in the state,” the farmer’s body added.

Read Also: BJP may deny tickets to many MLAs in Rajasthan to stave off anti-incumbency

Recently, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati announced that her party won’t be tying up with the Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Taking cognizance of this development, both Beniwal and Loktantrik Morcha are wooing Mayawati to come on board, even though she had announced that her party will be contesting from all seats in both states.

Considering the political history of Rajasthan, a third front has never been able to hold ground. Instead, Independents are more likely to emerge as a stronger third front in the swing state, winning an average of 10 percent votes in assembly polls.

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