UNPA on verge of split, SP gone, INLD to follow suit

SQUARE ONE: UNPA has almost disintegrated and there are two contendors for the next polls - UPA and NDA.

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Keywords: Samajwadi Party, UNPA

New Delhi: It seems as if the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) is not so united after all. The Third Front is on the verge of a split.

Just a year after the UNPA was formed as a third alternative to the UPA and NDA, its constituents are parting ways and finding new partners. With the Samajwadi Party deciding to support the Congress over the Indo-US Nuclear Deal, other parties of the UNPA alliance like INLD and Telegu Desam Party have said that the SP can no longer be a part of them.

A day after Samajwadi Party supremo met Mulayam Singh Yadav and SP General Secretary Amar Singh met Sonia Gandhi, the so-called Third Front has acted in anger and frustration. After the SP committed themselves to supporting the UPA, the UNPA has said that it can no longer be a part of them.

TDP Chief Spokesperson and MP, Mysoora Reddy said, "The day he (Mulayam Singh Yadav) goes with the UPA, there will be no room for SP in the UNPA."

But this is not the only problem that the UNPA seems to be facing.

INLD - another UNPA party - could soon be shifting loyalties to the BJP. It seems as if in politics, the only thing which is permanent is shifting alliances.

So, in the scenario of a trust vote, where do the loyaties move?

• With the Left opting out, there are many waiting in the wings to support the UPA - Samajwadi party, Trinamool Congress and the JD(S) to name just a few.
• And for those who cannot join the UPA - like AIADMK, the Asom Gana Parishad and the Telegu Desam Party - there's always the NDA option.

For now, however, everything seems to be back to square one. The UNPA has almost disintegrated and in the next general elections, there will be just two main contendors - the UPA and the NDA.