Will KCR’s Overtures to Regional Satraps Help Him Realise Federal Front Dream?

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has embarked on a trip to the southern states to garner support of other regional parties to form a coalition government at the Centre.

Sources said the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president is trying to instill a ‘south-centric’ sentiment among the regional satraps as so far, mostly leaders from the country’s northern belt have been at the helm.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, has a strong feeling that neither the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nor Congress would reach the magical to form government in New Delhi.

In case the federal front falls short of numbers, KCR is said to be ready to take support of the Congress, but would want to keep the reins with himself, said TRS spokesperson Abid Rasul Khan on Tuesday.

Last week, he met his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan in a bid to ensure support of the Left parties for his proposal.

However, his meeting with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin in Chennai hasn’t been as fruitful as the latter has clearly pledged his loyalty to the grand old party and its president Rahul Gandhi.

He, in fact, is said to have invited the TRS chief to join the Congress-led alliance. However, they are likely to meet after May 23 when results of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election and Assembly elections in some states would be declared.

However, sources say KCR continues to nurture prime ministerial ambitions and is likely to meet his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Benerjee, Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy and his father and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.

He also hopes to stitch a tie-up with gathbandhan (grand alliance) leaders in Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, KCR is confident of winning all 17 seats in Telangana, barring the Hyderabad constituency where his ally and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen chief Asadudddin Owaisi is the candidate.

In Andhra Pradesh, he hopes his ally and key opposition leader in the state YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party YSR Congress to win 15-20 seats.