KCR invokes past experiment, urges Left to join Third Front

Invoking the “1996-type template” for government formation at the Centre, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao made a strong case for left parties to come on board and join the Federal Front, a non-BJP, non-Congress alternative comprising like-minded regional parties.

During a 90-minute meeting with his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan in Thuruvananthapuram on Monday (May 6), he pitched for a ‘genuine alternative agenda’ that would put the interests of the states at the heart of policymaking and force the national parties—BJP and Congress—to support the regional grouping.

“KCR requested the left parties to join the initiative so that a genuine alternative in terms of policies and programmes can be offered to the people,” a Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader close to the Chief Minister told The Federal.

However, there was no discussion about the possibility of the next Prime Minister being from the South.

KCR, who first mooted the idea of a Federal Front in March last year and has now revived the efforts to build support for his proposal, shared his political assessment with Vijayan.

The TRS leadership reckons that neither the BJP nor the Congress will be able to form the government even with their present allies. “Both the alliances (NDA and UPA) will fall short of numbers. The regional parties, on the other hand, will emerge as formidable players so much so that the national parties will have to extend support to the Federal Front,” the TRS leader said.

“Vijayan has assured that he would discuss the proposal in his party forum and take a decision after May 23,” the TRS leader said.

During the meeting, the TRS supremo pointed out that the two national parties had failed to put the country on a high growth trajectory. “Barring the nomenclature of the schemes and programmes, one hardly finds any difference in terms of quality of governance between Congress and BJP who have dominated the national scene all these years. The key failures have been their lack of long-term vision and political will to push for out-of-the-box ideas to tackle poverty and social inequality. Time has come to acknowledge the elephant in the room and sincerely explore new brand of alternative politics focused on ensuring high growth with human face,” sources quoted KCR as having told his Kerala counterpart.

“Building a non-Congress, non-BJP platform is an idea whose time has come,” they said.

The sources cited the instance of one of the left parties – the CPI – being a part of the 13-party United Front government in 1996.

KCR’s visit was significant as it coincided with the fifth phase of polling in 51 constituencies spread over seven states involving some of the high-profile constituencies. With just 16 days left for the declaration of the results, the TRS supremo, who is hoping to corner a major chunk of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, is keen to step up efforts to enlist support for the Federal Front.

Interestingly, the first stop in his renewed mission is Kerala to meet the leaders of the Left parties. This is to dispel the notion that he was acting at the behest of the BJP.

KCR has plans to meet the leaders of other regional parties including Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, DMK and Janata Dal (Secular) to mobilise support for his proposal.