KCR Meets Mamata Banerjee, Pitches For 'Federal Front'; Says Congress 'Won't Do Miracle' if Voted to Power
"What will happen if the Congress replaces BJP? They won't do a miracle. The issues before the nation will remain as it is if either of them are voted to power," KCR said.
Kolkata, Mar 19: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao flew here on Monday to meet his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee. The agenda of the meet was to chart out the nascent steps towards forming a "non-Congress, non-BJP" coalition ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Addressing the media after the hour-long meet, KCR said the regional parties who are opposed to the NDA government should root for a "federal front" rather than joining the Congress-led UPA.
"What will happen if the Congress replaces BJP? They won't do a miracle. The issues before the nation will remain as it is if either of them are voted to power," said KCR, who heads the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
"People are thinking before 2019 there will be another front. Let me clarify that this front will be for people of India. This won't be a mere alliance of a few political parties, this will be for the people. There is a need for alternate force," the Telangana CM added.
On being asked whether his proposed third front would face leadership crisis due to conflicting interest of various regional parties, he replied, "It will be a collective leadership, it will be a federal leadership."
"You are thinking in the routine political model. The agenda we are proposing is different from the routine political model," he further added.
Mamata, who was earlier reported to be in favour of keeping Congress -- the single largest Opposition party -- a part of any proposed front against the Modi government, refrained from explicitly supporting KCR's bid to exclude the Rahul Gandhi-led party.
The Trinamool chief, however, asserted that a "federal leadership" would take on the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
"It is a good beginning. I think politics is a continuous process, whatever we have discussed is aimed towards development of the country," she said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 19, 2018 06:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).