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| New front likely before Delhi civic polls | | | NEW DELHI, FEB 11
A new political front is taking shape to contest the forthcoming civic polls in Delhi. Top leaders of various national and regional parties were4 present at the inaugural rally of the five-party front on Sunday.
According to Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Delhi state unit president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the idea is to ultimately extend the proposed Progressive Peoples Front (PPF) to national politics. "To start with, we are aiming at coming together and contesting the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) elections and planning to gradually convert it into the Third Front at the Centre by getting more parties to join hands with us," Bidhuri, convenor of the PPF, said.
Besides the NCP, the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), Janata Dal (Secular) and the Jan Morcha are constituents of the proposed Front. Interestingly, while the NCP is a constituent of the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre, the two Communist parties provide their crucial support to it from outside.
NCP president, Sharad Pawar, who is also the Union Agriculture Minister, represented his party along with general secretaries Tariq Anwar and Purno A. Sangma at the public rally. Former Prime Minister, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, and Raj Babbar represented the Jan Morcha. CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan, Surendra Mohan and Shoaib Iqbal of Janata Dal (Secular) weree also present.
Several key issues including water and electricity shortage and improper rehabilitation of slum dwellers evicted after their dwellings were demolished recently were raised at the rally.
The PPF will strive to make inroads into Delhi's bipolar politics divided between the ruling Congress party and its archrival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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