'Third Front Pointless': TN CM Stalin Urges Parties To Unite Against BJP In Lok Sabha Elections

In his birthday speech, Stalin stated that the third front and the post-election alliance are not viable options.

M K Stalin, president of the DMK and chief minister of Tamil Nadu, said on Wednesday that arguments in favor of a front without the grand old party should be rejected, and he pledged his party's support for the Congress in order to guarantee the victory of the opposition in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, reported PTI. In his birthday speech, Stalin stated that the third front and the post-election alliance are not viable options. The 2024 LS election is about who must not take power, not who should form the government.

“The BJP must be defeated politically. This must be the single goal for all opposition parties.” Batting for a spirit of unity among opposition parties, the Dravidian party chief said it would bring victory in the general election. “If national politics is decided based on State based political differences the loss is for us,” he said, a reference to State-specific political realities that hindered bringing like-minded parties together to take on the BJP.

He stated that "some" arguments in favor of a non-Congress front should be rejected and that it is impractical to form an alliance after the election for Parliamentary election.

“Political parties should rise above differences and stand together as a unified force to defeat BJP in LS polls. Talks of third front are pointless. I request all parties opposed to BJP to understand this,” he said. On Wednesday, Stalin celebrated his 70th birthday.

He urged party members to work for the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) to win all 40 seats in the 2024 elections—39 in TN and one in Puducherry.

In the meantime, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge urged opposition unity in order to defeat the BJP-led government in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He claimed that he had never said "who will lead or who will become PM" and that the party is keen that similar parties fight together.

"All like-minded opposition parties should come together against the divisive forces. I never said who will lead or who will become PM. It's not the question. We want to fight together unitedly, this is our desire," Kharge said at an event to mark the 70th birthday celebrations of DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, quoted ANI.

The opposition parties' apparent disagreements regarding the prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 election make Kharge's remarks significant.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra's leader, the former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, has also been ambivalent about the topic.

According to Kharge, the Congress-DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu has been successful, and the two parties ought to lead "the foundation for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls victory."