HYDERABAD: Exuding confidence that a non-BJP and non-Congress federal front, which is in the making, has bright prospects of coming to power at the Centre after the ensuing general elections, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) working president K T Rama Rao on Thursday asserted that Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has the ability to lead the nation.
In an interaction with select media persons, Rama Rao said: “We want a non-Congress and non-BJP PM. KCR has it in him. If a gentleman (Rahul Gandhi) who lost the municipal election in his home constituency of Amethi can aspire to become PM, why not KCR? KCR is an able administrator and number-one chief minister in India.”
He said he was only saying KCR fits the bill to become prime minister, and not that he would bag the post. “It would be like jumping the gun if I say this, as he does not have the necessary numbers now. But KCR measures up to both Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi. We want a non-BJP and non-Congress leader, either a woman or a man, to take over as prime minister,” he said and added: “Who had thought in 2002-03 that Manmohan Singh would rule the country for 10 years, and whoever imagined in 2011-12 that Narendra Modi would be prime minister for a full five-year term?”
KTR, however, ruled out KCR contesting in the LS elections in future. “Where is the need for one to be MP to play a role in national politics? Was Manmohan Singh a Lok Sabha member? But he was PM for two terms.”
The bipolar disorder that has been dominating the Congress and BJP — that only one of them should lead the nation — would give way to a new order where regional parties take centre stage. “KCR’s critics ask how he could, with 16 or 17 MPs in his kitty, become the chief minister. If this is a tall order, then it is also a tall order for Rahul Gandhi, who has only 44 MPs in the Lok Sabha, to reach the magic figure 272.”
Rama Rao was optimistic that the Federal Front would be able to get 150 to 160 seats. “I am hopeful of the SP-BSP combo bagging about 50 seats in UP, TRS and MIM winning all the 17 seats, Trinamool Congress coming up with 30 seats, and the YSRC contributing not less than 20 seats. If this happens, even the national parties could support us. The parties which are neither with the Congress nor the BJP will do the trick, by joining forces with the Federal Front,” he said.
KTR said that the waning popularity of the BJP and the inability of the Congress to rise to the occasion have thrown up an opportunity for the non-Congress and non-BJP players. “The BJP has fallen from its high point. It may not cross the 150-seat mark. In UP, after SP-BSP formed an alliance, the incumbent deputy chief ministers lost their own parliament seats. If the slide continues in UP, where the BJP won 71 in 2014, the saffron party may finally end up with a national tally of around 150 seats. The party has already lost Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan. AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is out of the NDA now. After considerable efforts, the BJP could retain Shiv Sena in the NDA,” he said.
He pointed out that on the other hand, Rahul’s Congress continues to remain down and out, failing to inspire people and show the direction to the nation. In MP and Rajasthan, it was a face-off between the BJP and the Congress, and the latter won by a whisker. In Gujarat, the Congress gave the state to the BJP on a platter. This makes one wonder if the Congress’ tally would be any higher than 100.
He said the Federal Front has an agenda that would bring about sweeping reforms in the way the country is administered. “Where is the need for keeping health, education and agriculture in the concurrent list? For states to become strong, the subjects in the concurrent list should be transferred to the state list. If the states are strong, the Centre too will be strong. It should look after defence, terror attacks, trade, commerce and so on,” he said.