With around 15 days left for the general elections results, Telangana CM, K. Chandrashekar Rao has set out again in the hopes of forging a non-Congress and non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance.
Rao had met Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan at Thiruvananthapuram on Monday during his five-day tour of Kerala and Tamil Nadu which also includes a meeting with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M.K. Stalin on 13th May.
In a statement given by him, it’s said that the meetings with Vijayan and Stalin are being held to “discuss the current scenario in the context of ongoing parliament elections".
Since last year, the Telangana CM has been talking of forming a federal front, or a coalition of regional parties. As of now, only Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSR Congress (YSRCP) chief, has formally announced his support for the idea.
According to a source, KCR will be just going to put forth his views and explain his federal front idea to Vijayan and Stalin.
However, the DMK had contested the assembly and Lok Sabha polls in an alliance with the Congress. Moreover, AP chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, KCR’s rival, has also campaigned with Stalin in Tamil Nadu and is on his own road to form an anti-BJP coalition, which includes the Congress.
The source, who is a senior TRS functionary, gave a statement saying, “We are not expecting anything from these two parties. Everything will become clear only after 23 May. KCR definitely wants to form a federal front, and its formation also depends on how many seats the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and other regional parties win. If the NDA gets more seats, then KCR might decide to provide outside or issue-based support if it falls short of numbers in the Lok Sabha."
On being asked if Rao has prime ministerial ambitions, the reply was that it is too soon to talk about it. “If at all the federal front forms, then all the parties in it will meet and decide," he added.
Asaduddin Owaisi, All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul (AIMIM) chief and outgoing MP from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, has supported Rao on that front as saying in Public that Rao is a better option for the PM than Modi or Rahul Gandhi.
Prior to this trip, KCR had met West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Janata Dal (Secular) supremo Deve Gowda, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav amongst others. While none have openly declared support for his federal front, K. Kavitha, KCR’s daughter and outgoing MP from the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat in Telangana told Mint in April that some regional parties are “covertly backing the federal front idea".