With the TRS recording a landslide victory in the just-concluded assembly polls in Telangana, party founder and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has again started airing his national ambitions.
While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Rahul Gandhi sought to build an anti-BJP alliance in vain, Rao had the last laugh, winning Telangana with a better-than-two-third majority. Hours after the win, Rao announced he was looking to launch a new national front with a consortium of regional parties. Rao claimed on Tuesday that the “new national party” may emerge soon.
However, Rao gave no further details such such as the name of the proposed front. Media reports claim Rao will reveal details of the planned national front in Delhi. Rao said he is “talking to economists and intellectuals. I will put forward an agenda that will bring together the polity of the nation.”
While addressing the media, after his party's win, Rao said the new political formation would emerge as an alternative to both the BJP and Congress with a national agenda to fulfil the aspirations of the people of the country.
However, this is not the first time that Rao has dallied with the idea of a non-BJP, non-Congress national formation. Rao had met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata in March this year to discuss plans for evolving a coalition of regional parties. But eventually, she seemingly chose to side with Naidu (and the Congress) over Rao. However, TDP's alliance with the Congress seems to have worked in the favour of TRS.
Rao also said that he has been in discussions with All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi and described Owaisi as an intellectual who takes part in every parliamentary debate. Owaisi, too, has said that he does not feel the Congress has the capacity of stopping Modi.
The perception of being a corrupt politician has not stopped Rao from recording a landslide win. The TRS, under Rao, has worked towards maintaining its popularity with various welfare schemes.
Rao said Telangana has made rapid progress in the last four years since its formation and the state government is implementing numerous development and welfare schemes, which he claims are unparalleled in the country—like planning to launch annual health check-ups for all citizens and developing more airstrips in the state. The state is also ranked number one in ease of doing business, Rao claimed.
