In a day of new political developments, several non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP ] parties came together to demand the functioning of Parliament and an inquiry into the alleged scam in the allocation of coal blocks. The political move was initiated by the Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav. He was joined by the Left Front and the Telugu Desam Party [TDP ] leaders.
This tactical move paves the way for an informal formation of the Third Font. Earlier, the Left parties and the Samajwadi Party had come together to oppose foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail. Currently, the Samajwadi Party, the TDP and the Left Front have about 50 seats in the Lok Sabha.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday morning, Yadav, flanked by the Communist Party of India [Marxist ] leader Basudeb Acharya, the Communist Party of India's Gurudas Dasgupta and the TDP’s Nama Nageshwar Rao, said, 'Our party, along with the CPI, the CPI [M ] and the TDP, has decided to stage a dharna in front of Parliament tomorrow to demand an inquiry into the coal block allocation scam by a sitting Supreme Court judge.' Acharya said that there was a 'match-fixing' between the Congress and the BJP in not letting the house function. Dasgupta slammed the prime minister's statement on the CAG report.
Speaking to Millennium Post, the Samajwadi Party leader Mohan Singh said, 'We want a debate in Parliament on the coal issue. The house should not be forcefully disrupted, and this logjam should end. There are several cases of corruption against this government, which the CBI has been unsuccessful in probing, as it too is a government body. We don’t want the government to fall. In fact, we want the house to function. We do not want the prime minister's resignation, but corruption and price-rise are two issues we will not compromise on.'
Rejecting the possibility of the formation of a Third Front, the Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit told Millennium Post, 'There is nothing like the formation of a Third Front. These parties keep coming together and keep splitting. What about the time when the Samajwadi Party disrupted Parliament? These are parties which change stand every two months.'