Though Samajwadi Party leader and younger brother of Mulayam Singh, Shivpal Yadav, has announced the formation of a separate front (Samajwadi Secular Morcha), past records show that such fronts have had an early demise. In the political history of the country, many such fronts came into existence and died their natural deaths.
The socialist forces tried to unite in 1952, but they did not have much longevity. Initially, Socialist Party and Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (headed by J.B. Kripalani) merged to form the Praja Samajwadi Party. It split in 1965, leading to the formation of the Samyukta Socialist Party. But, it did not last long.
Even Mulayam Singh, who was initially with Chaudhary Charan Singh, fell out with the latter's son Ajit Singh and formed the short-lived Kranti Morcha. In fact, Chaudhary Charan Singh formed the Janata Party (Secular) after the fall of Janata Party government in 1980.
The list continues. Former prime minister V.P. Singh revolted against the Rajiv Gandhi government over the Bofors scam and quit the party. He formed the Jan Morcha along with rebel Congress leaders like Arun Nehru, Arif Mohammed Khan and V.C. Shukla but this tie-up, too, did not do well. Raj Narain founded the Democratic Socialist Party but it did not last long.
BJP leader and former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh formed the Jan Kranti Party after he fell out with prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, and appointed his son Rajbir its national president. Kalyan Singh floated Rashtriya Kranti Party, too, after he snapped ties with the BJP in 1999. However, on realising that both the fronts did not have a bright future, he returned to the BJP’s fold.
Veteran Congress leader N.D. Tiwari, too, formed a new front called Congress (T) when he fell out with the Congress. He had dissident leaders Arjun Singh and K. Natwar Singh for company, but when he sensed that the front was not doing well, he returned to the Congress when Sonia Gandhi took over the reins of the party.
