KCR’s Federal Front idea fails to take off

‘Any formation has to have BJP or Congress as regional parties alone can’t come to power nationally.’

NEW DELHI: The ‘Federal Front’ idea of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief and Telengana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, known as KCR in short, to form a non-Congress, non-BJP front seems to have failed to take off as he has not been able to find any taker for it so far.

KCR had held one-to-one meetings with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik, JDS leader H.D. Deve Gowda, DMK leader M.K. Stalin and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav last month. As part of the move, TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao called on YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy seeking his support for the proposed front.

However, the momentum lost steam with parties hardly taking any interest in such a move. Snubbed by the regional parties, the TRS chief has now shifted his focus to improve the performance of his party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and maximize the number of seats. There are 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana and TRS is likely to contest on 16 seats while one seat—Hyderabad—may be given to Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

Sources said the leaders approached by KCR clearly told him that there cannot be any stable formation at the Centre, at this point in time, without the involvement of BJP or Congress. “Regional parties cannot come to power nationally, without any of the two. Any alliance or formation has to have either BJP or Congress as one of its main components,” they told KCR.

Sources said the situation has changed ever since the idea of Federal Front was conceived. “Congress has won Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Mamata Banerjee held a rally in Kolkata which was represented by almost all Opposition parties, although Rao was absent. The recent developments following tension along the India-Pakistan border have also prompted KCR to rethink on his strategy,” said a source.

Now all the Opposition parties, including Telugu Desam Party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, are working on an anti-BJP alliance, including the Congress. Naidu broke off with the BJP last year. The problem with KCR is that it cannot ally with Congress, as it is the principal Opposition party in his state. KCR had not attended the swearing-in ceremony of H.D. Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister of Karnataka.