Third Front not to project any as prime ministerial candidate

Releasing the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, the All India Forward Bloc on Friday, said the Third Front would not project any one as prime ministerial candidate and it would be left till the election was over, provided the front came to power.

"The question of selecting a prime ministerial candidate for a non-BJP and non-Congress combination will arise only after the election. There is no dearth of leaders for the top job,"  AIFB general secretary Debabrata Biswas told a press conference here.

"Even Mayawati has declared that she would help consolidate the Third Front against the Congress and the BJP and that the question of choosing prime minister can be taken up after the election," Biswas said.

He said, "the Third Front or a 'Manch' is yet to be formed. Efforts are being made towards mobilising forces that are opposed to the Congress and the BJP."

Biswas said the AIFB would contest in 23 Lok Sabha seats - three each in West Bengal, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh, four in Bihar, two each in Delhi and Jharkhand, one each in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

The AIFB in its manifesto said the Indo-US nuclear deal should be scrapped. It also demanded that Women Reservation and Right to Education bill must be passed and implemented.