Mayawati’s dinner to focus on Third Front PM candidate, poll strategy

April 27th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Monday met Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu here and discussed the likely post-poll scenario.

April 26th, 2009 KOLKATA - Samajwadi Party (SP) General Secretary Amar Singh on Sunday ruled out possibility of any post-poll tie-up with the Third Front or the Left parties, saying as long as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is with the Third Front, his party would not support it. "As long as our arch rival BSP chief Mayawati is with the Left parties or the Third Front, we are not going for any post-poll alliance them," Amar Singh told reporters here.

April 6th, 2009 KOLKATA - Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) patriarch Jyoti Basu Monday regretted not being able to participate in the election campaign for the Left Front in West Bengal, saying he was 'physically unfit' to do so. 'This time I could do nothing for the Left Front as I have become physically unfit to participate in poll campaign,' Basu told reporters at his Salt Lake residence here, while launching a website for Laxman Seth, the CPI-M candidate from Tamluk Lok Sabha seat.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu said on Wednesday that the decision on the Third Party's prime ministerial candidate would be taken by consensus. Talking to the reporters here, Naidu said, "There is only one seat for prime minister's post.

March 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The 'political dinner' has started at the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's residence here just a while ago with leaders representing all eleven parties of the newly formed Third Front being present. he first meeting of the Third Front since its launch in Karnataka is crucial, as the name of coalition's prime ministerial candidate is likely to be decided, besides a discussion on the poll strategy.

March 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Third Front leaders, who met over dinner here to discuss Lok Sabha election strategies, said there was no decision on any prime ministerial candidate but added they would join hands to form a strong alternative to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). After the dinner which was a matter of intense political speculation over the weekend, Mayawati, flanked by the leaders of the newly formed Third Front, read out a prepared statement saying they would all contest elections to prevent a government led either by the Congress or the BJP.

March 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A large posse of security guards converted Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati's new residence here into a fortress while she hosted a dinner for leaders of the newly formed Third Front Sunday evening. The road leading to her 14, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road residence was blocked for a stretch of 200 metres as securitymen frisked passers-by and checked vehicles, while the height of the compound wall was raised to over 15 feet by using bamboo curtains.

March 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Third Front leaders met over dinner here and discussed Lok Sabha elections strategies, but there was no decision on choosing her or any other leader as the prime ministerial candidate. Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), A.B.

March 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Amid speculation that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati would join the Third Front if she was named its prime ministerial candidate, the Left parties Saturday said the alliance would chose its leader for the top job only after the elections. 'We will choose the prime minister after the general elections,' said Communist Party of India (CPI) national deputy general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy.

March 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati said Sunday her party would fight the Lok Sabha polls on its own but did not rule out an alliance with the Third Front after the elections. Hours before she hosts a dinner for Third Front leaders at her new residence here, Mayawati ruled out any pre-poll alliance with other parties.

March 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The launch of the multi-party Third Front has forced both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to start redrawing their strategies for the Lok Sabha elections, party sources said Friday. Although both the Congress and the BJP have publicly dismissed Thursday's rally at Tumkur near Bangalore as one of no consequence, leaders of these parties admit that the centre-Left alliance may prove to be a major factor in the April-May ballot.

March 14th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - The Third Front, launched by eight political parties Thursday, will not project any leader as its prime ministerial candidate, the Communist Party of India (CPI) said Friday. 'The Third Front will not project anyone as its prime ministerial candidate,' CPI general secretary A.B.

March 14th, 2009 BANGALORE - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, aspiring to become the prime minister after the Lok Sabha elections, will have her first meeting with Third Front leaders Sunday. Two of the main forces behind the Third Front, the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and Communist Party of India (CPI) gave contradictory indications Friday on whether the group will go to the polls in April-May with a prime ministerial candidate or decide on it after the results.

March 4th, 2009 AGARTALA - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) will hold a crucial two-day meeting in New Delhi later this week to finalise its strategy for the upcoming general elections, party sources said here Wednesday. 'The 87-member central committee would meet March 7-8 to finalise the party's election manifesto and other poll strategies,' said Bijon Dhar, CPI-M central committee member and Tripura party secretary.

February 26th, 2009 SILIGURI - The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) Wednesday said that support for a separate Gorkhaland state was a pre-condition for backing any candidate for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat, where it wields considerable clout. The party is yet to decide whether it will support the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) spearheaded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), GJM press and publicity secretary Benoy Tamang told reporters here.