Is DMK Trying To Build A Third Front? Kanimozhi To Visit Mamata After Meeting With Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar

A bid to form a third front without the BJP and Congress has for long been an aspiration of regional political parties. The huddle intensified in the aftermath of the Congress rout in the 2014 general elections, but the plans never materialised. The fresh efforts are likely being initiated by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) after it left the Congress-led INDIA bloc after the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Congress's severing of all ties with DMK to form a government with CM Vijay-led TVK has left the MK Stalin-led party to chalk out its own way forward in national politics. DMK Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi has reached out to several political leaders over the past few weeks, indicating DMK's potential attempt to form a third political block and second opposition coalition in Delhi.

Kanimozhi is expected to visit Kolkata to meet Mamata Banerjee, who is dealing with a rift in the TMC after bitter losses in the Bengal Assembly polls.

The DMK MP initially met Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray at his residence 'Matoshree' last weekend. The agenda of the meeting was kept from the media, but a report by TOI, citing Shiv Sena leaders, stated that the talks centred around the Centre's delimitation push and the future of the INDIA bloc.

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Kanimozhi met Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule

After meeting Thackeray, Kanimozhi travelled to Delhi and held two separate meetings with Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule.

So far, there has been no official word on the purpose of DMK's outreach to regional parties, but it is believed that the Tamil Nadu-based party is trying to redefine its space in national politics.

After the TMC split, DMK has climbed up the list to become the fourth biggest party in the Lok Sabha with 22 seats after BJP, Congress and Samajwadi Party.

The emergence of TVK on the Tamil Nadu political landscape has ended the state's long-existing bipolarity. TVK's blistering performance has posed a fresh challenge to DMK to save its parliamentary dominance.

With Congress by Vijay's side, TVK has bigger prospects in the 2029 general elections. DMK's meetings with the prominent regional parties could be a result of its political and electoral calculations.

Many attempts, same fate

However, as history tells us, the idea of a third political front depends less on a leading party's desire and more on the will of like-minded parties to unite, at the same time and in the same situation.

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In 2022, AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal had made similar efforts by inviting seven chief ministers to form a "progressive group of states" who were battling the Centre on similar governance issues. The bid ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections failed.

Four years before that, an attempt was made by K Chandrashekar Rao of BRS. In 2019, he held meetings with BJD's Naveen Patnaik and Mamata. In 2013, Mamata herself pushed for a front without the Congress. All of the attempts failed to materialise, and the mulled alliances never saw the polls.