Left grounds UF's ambitious drive
Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
The United Front's bid to launch a concerted campaign in view of Congress president Sitaram Kesri's diatribes against the 13-party coalition has run into rough weather.
Sources said serious differences have surfaced in the Front over the proposed common manifesto, with the Left parties raising serious objections against the move.
Mooted by senior Uttar Pradesh JD leaders, the move was intended to send across a message to Kesri that the Inder Kumar Gujral government should not be taken for granted, said a senior JD leader.
The leaders felt that if the 13 constituents have separate manifestos, the electorate would get confusing signals, affecting the UF's electoral chances.
The Left parties, especially the Communist Party of India-Marxist, is understood to have shot down the proposal, asserting that the Left had its own programmes for the voters. What is worse, the Left has been dissuading the Front leaders from forging a common manifesto, much to the constituents's chagrin.
Several disillusioned Front leaders fail to understand why the Left has assumed the Opposition's role -- it has been constantly criticising the Gujral government.
Despite the discouraging response from the Left constituents regarding the common manifesto, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is vigorously pursuing the idea with regional parties like the Telugu Desam, the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and the Tamil Maanila Congress.
It is learnt that Deve Gowda has elicited some positive response from the regional parties. However, matters are still in an embryonic stage and a clearer picture would emerge in a fortnight.
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