If we study post independence politics in india then it becomes clear that indian national congress was the only national party which enjoyed absolute majority in indian parliament.This party was formed initially to fight british rule in india and to make india a free independent democratic republic.Its founder members were many freedom fighters like Mahatma gandhi,Jawaharlal nehru,Mohammed ali Jinnah,Sardar Patel,Maulana Abul kalam Azad,Acharya Kriplani and many more who went to jail for many years fighting british rulers and finally succeeded in liberating india from the clutches of british. But they had to pay a very heavy price in the form of partition of india and formation of another country named Islamic Republic of Pakistan headed by Mohammed ali Jinnah an erstwhile prominent congress member.Mohammed ali Jinnah was a very tall congress member and wanted to become the president of indian national congress but Jawahar lal Nehru and Sardar Patel were interested in organizational elections and an elected president.So the differences cropped up between senior hindu and muslim members of congress resulting in Jinnah leaving congress party and joining another party named Muslim League.After that Jinnah demanded a separate nation for muslims on the pretext that muslims can not be safe in hindu majority india.The result was partition of india at the time of freedom of india.
Other parties which were active that time were communist parties and Janasangh(political representative of RSS and Vhp)which were not a serious challenge to congress party.The first serious challenge to Indian national congress was posed by Jai Prakash Narain an erstwhile freedom fighter who challenged the then prime minister and congress chief Mrs Indira Gandhi in seventies when emergency was declared in India. Jai Prakash Narain first time offered Indian voter a third alternative forming a political party named ‘Janata Party’.Before this Indian politics was divided between left and right.Left was represented by communist parties of India and right was represented by Indian National Congress which was having majority of upper caste Hindu leaders although they followed Indian constitution and believed in secular democratic India. Jai Prakash Narain’s Janata Party defeated Indian national congress headed by Indira Gandhi in 1977 and that was the emergence of third front in India.But its life was short-lived due to the internal differences between socialist leaders who believed Ram Manohar Lohia and Jai Prakash Narain and right wing Hindu leaders Atal bihari Vajpayee,L.k.Advani who were card carrying members of R.S.S.Soon Janata party disintegrated and so was the third front and Indian National Congress headed by Indira Gandhi came back to power.
Time to time socialist leaders tried to revive the third front and every time right wing hindu leaders became the party to break it. Janata party was literally hijacked by Hindu communal leaders in the form of Bharatiya Janata party which is nothing but a militant religious Hindu outfit backed and supported by RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal etc.BJP headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee came to power also and during this regime we saw the worst kind of communal riots.
Major problems of our country still remain the same,poverty,literacy,unemployment,communal harmony but it seems that rightist parties Indian national congress,BJP have not been able to tackle these issues and instead they indulged in corruption and communal-ism. Leftist parties have not been able to make a dent in most of the states may be because of their non belief in religion and India’s majority being firm believer in one or other religion.Therefore as in the past during Indira Gandhi’s regime,today also there is a solid scope for a Third front which can cater to the needs of vast sections of poor,needy,under-privileged who can prosper only when given the power.