Bangalore: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday ridiculed the formation of the Third Front by 10 national and regional parties, dubbing it a "mirage" and "a parking lot".
"The Third Front is like a parking lot in a city where people park their vehicles and drive away after their work. Such a front has a permanent place in only a parking space," Naidu told reporters after unveiling the party's election office in Bangalore.
Dismissing the possibility that the Third Front would make an impact in the general elections, Naidu said the electoral battle would be a straight contest between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
"Where is the place for the Third Front? If at all, it is in a parking space as it has neither credibility nor acceptability," Naidu said.
Naidu said the BJP would win all the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka.
"We are ahead of our rival parties in announcing the names of candidates for 20 parliamentary seats. Names for eight other seats will be decided at the committee meeting March 17," he affirmed.
Naidu also clarified that the BJP would not have alliance with any party in the four southern states for the polls.
Accusing the Left parties of "running with the hares and hunting with the hounds", Naidu said their antipathy towards the BJP would force them eventually to go with the Congress only to keep the NDA out of power.
"They will not succeed this time. The people have known what they stand for. In the absence of a mass base in the country, barring one or two states, they have joined some regional parties to form a Third Front, which has no leader, no agenda, no policy or any seat-sharing," Naidu averred.
Denying that the party was promoting dynastic politics by nominating sons of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and state PWD Minister C M Udasi for two Parliamentary seats, Naidu said the committee had cleared them on the winnability criterion.
"We will, however, not tolerate indiscipline in the party. If anyone has any complaint about the selection of candidates, they should discuss it in the party's forum instead of going public or to the media," he added.
In a related development, the state unit of the Janata Party, including its president Ashok Navalagund and 22 members, merged with the ruling BJP.
Comments
0 comment