Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao’s sharp criticism of the BJP and the Congress for the second successive day and his assertion on the need for a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative at the national-level is not a move in haste.
While the principal political parties see Mr. Rao’s announcement as mere posturing, TRS leaders assert that the remarks were by no means casual. The idea of forging a coalition and bringing regional parties onto one platform has been on the mind of Mr. Rao for some time now, a senior TRS leader said.
The Chief Minister has done enough ground work before firming up the view that experiences of the regional parties with bigger parties like the Congress and the BJP in governance has not been very satisfying. The regional parties be it in the UPA or present NDA dispensation found themselves lost.
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Poor coordination
The big parties have very little coordination with their alliance partners as the experience reveals. This could be substantiated by the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra which ran into rough weather and the strained relations between BJP and the TDP in the neighbouring AP, the Chief Minister is learnt to have said.
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The Chief Minister plans to stitch a coordination of regional political parties to put an end to this. “We intend to bring like minded regional parties with secular credential and thrust on social justice to a common platform,” Karimnagar MP B.Vinod Kumar told The Hindu . “To begin with it will be an umbrella of parties or a consortium of political parties. But could turn into a party in itself subsequently,” he remarked .
Rich experience
Mr. Vinod Kumar said at the height of separate Telangana agitation, Mr. Rao was successful in coordinating his activities with 32 regional and smaller parties. “As a UPA partner, we have seen how the smaller parties were treated. When Congress was stubborn on the issue of separate Telangana, we quit the Central government and came out. We saw how some smaller parties despite issues they were facing continued in the government,” he said.
He felt that once the regional coordination with other parties falls in place, they could play an important role in the next elections. “We are in touch with other parties” Mr. Vinod Kumar said pointing out that Mr. Rao’s governance has been appreciated by other States and it would be easy for him to rope in others.
The Congress has described the Chief Minister’s idea of a new front is just a drama to divert the people’s attention from his failures knowing that he was bound to lose elections in Telangana. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said KCR was a master in diverting people’s attention and this was nothing more than that. “He is raking up issues of no relevance today and is trying to set a new agenda. His attempts will come to nothing,” he said.
Posturing
BJP State president K. Laxman said the timing of his announcement clearly shows that he is indulging in posturing. “Mr. Rao is feeling insecure after the results of the North East election and he is worried that by 2019 his party will be wiped out,” he said adding that the BJP was not unduly worried by his statement.
Another BJP leader maintained that they were taken aback after Mr. Rao stepped up his attack. “There was a spat between the TRS and BJP leaders on Mr. Rao’s remarks. But after the observations made by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, we though the issue was a closed chapter. But, the latest tirade should be seen in a different perspective,” a senior BJP leader said.
However, in the Telugu speaking states, the TRS chief’s announcement saw MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Jana Sena supremo Pawan Kalyan welcoming the move.