Though the immediate provocation for the UNPA's formation is the presidential election, it has been created by the regional parties with an eye to the 2009 general election. Will this eight-party coalition succeed in its objective?

The presidential election seems to be the immediate provocation for the emergence of the so-called Third Front, as the Lok Sabha election is almost two years away. The political front of eight regional parties, which calls itself the United National Progressive Alliance, has declared its intention to maintain equidistance from both the Congress and the BJP. 
  
Interestingly, in India, there is a history of the Third Front emerging every now and then. In 1977, the Janata Party came to power as a coalition. Similarly, Mr VP Singh became the Prime Minister of the National Front Government in 1989. The period between 1996 and 1998 saw two United Front Prime Ministers - Mr HD Deve Gowda and Mr IK Gujral. Now the UNPA has emerged. But there is a question mark whether it will serve as an alterative to the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA. 

It is quite clear that the UNPA may not give sleepless nights to either the UPA or the NDA, although the latter may think of a tacit understanding with it on the presidential election. The front, however, has a long way to go before it becomes a power to reckon with. 

As far as the UNPA's credibility is concerned, as the BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has said, this is a group of "rejected, dejected and defeated" leaders of the regional parties who are currently in the Opposition. For instance, although the Samajwadi Party has about 60,000 votes for the presidential election, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav is yet to recover from the shock of his defeat in the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.

 As far as Mr Om Prakash Chautala of the INLD is concerned, he is too eager to capture power in Haryana. Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu, after keeping a low profile for quite some time, is back at his game of playing a national role.  

Similarly, ADMK chief J Jayalalithaa is biding her time at the moment, waiting for the 2009 general election. She, too, wants to play a prominent role at the Centre, similar to the one she did in 1999 when she pulled down the Vajpayee Government. 

The Asom Gana Parishad is dilemma, as the Congress's Chief Minister of Assam, Mr Tarun Gogoi, is firmly in the saddle in the State. Nobody knows what Mr Babulal Marandi of Jharkhand is doing in this group. Likewise, the Kerala Congress's presence in the UNPA is understandable as the party is currently out in the cold.

As most of these parties are pitted against the Congress in their respective States, their leaders have come together with a common plank of anti-Congressism. Their long-term objective is to capture power in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, or at least improve their electoral prospects.

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