New political coalition expected to be formed in India for election

A new political coalition is expected to be formed in India soon to contest in the country's general elections which are barely four months away. Some 14 regional parties are mulling to launch a "Federal Front " to compete with the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the polls slated for May this year. Sources said top leaders of these 14 regional parties are set to meet on Feb. 5 in the national capital to decide on issues regarding the new coalition. "The initiative has been taken by the chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, who is also the head of the eastern Indian state ruling's Janata Dal (United) party. He has been holding discussions with the head of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav," they said. In fact, Janata Dal (United) spokesperson K.C. Tyagi has recently reportedly said that the 14 parties had already met last year. "Fourteen regional parties have already met once on October 28 last year. The Congress, which has hit a low because of the economic mess and corruption charges, is not able to counter Narendra Modi. It is on us to take on both the BJP and the Congress," Tyagi told the media. According to the sources, the 14 parties include the Left parties, the ruling Trinamool Congress party of the eastern state of West Bengal and the ruling Biju Janata Dal of the eastern state of Odisha, and it may also try to pull some of UPA's regional allies. "The names of all the parties will be revealed by this month," they said. Political analysts said that the Federal Front will finally turn out to be a Third Front, an alternative to the ruling UPA and the opposition NDA that will also try to cut the votes of the anti- graft Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). "The AAP has done so well, under the leadership of anti- corruption activist and the current chief minister of the Indian capital in last December's assembly polls, that the regional parties are worried about getting sidelined in the general elections. So, the plan to launch the Federal Front with an intention of wooing voters through populist policies," said Delhi- based expert Prof. Ajay Singh. India had in the middle of the 1990s got a Third Front to rule the country but it did not sustain for too long.