Hyderabad: In his first campaign speech for the general elections, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief and Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) said he would form a ‘national party’, if required, after examining the poll results.
He said that he had about 120 leaders on his side, who would support him for his idea of a federal front.
“People think I have just 16 MPs with me. Obviously I will not make my plans public. But, I can tell you, I have about 120 leaders on my side who are supporting me. I have travelled and met other regional leaders and I told them exactly what I had to,” Rao said.
Rao was addressing a public gathering at Karimnagar, a place which the chief minister considered lucky.
Karimnagar had played a crucial role during the Telangana agitation, when Rao had promised, in his speeches, that he would return to the place only after getting a separate state.
However, there has been no clarity on how much of Rao’s federal front could a reality, say analysts.
Political observers in the state said that with most regional leaders already picking sides, it was difficult to understand if Rao had any concrete plans to materialise his ‘federal front.’
For long, the TRS chief has been trying to stitch an anti-BJP and anti-Congress front. He has met several regional satraps, including Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and MK Stalin.
However, the only regional leaders who have extended support are YSR Congress’ Jaganmohan Reddy and BJD chief and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
His arch-rival Naidu, who is a key force in the grand opposition alliance or ‘mahagatbandhan’, has often said that KCR was Modi’s B-team.
Other opposition parties have also criticised KCR’s front as an attempt to split votes and make things easy for the BJP.
However, the TRS chief had always made it clear that his front would be anti-Congress and anti-BJP. He had also said that both the national parties were busy playing ‘Hindu politics’ rather than focusing on development.
“If the nation has to improve, then the BJP and Congress need to move out. We need structural changes and states need to have greater control. If you bless me, I will form a national party, if required, after looking at the poll results,” Rao said on Sunday.
He even asked the gathering if they wanted him to involve in national politics and play a key role. “Will you bless me? Should I go to national politics and change the scenario? Raise your hands if you want me to,” Rao told the crowd on Sunday.
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