HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MP B Vinod Kumar has predicted the emergence of a new political front to serve as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress after the Lok Sabha elections, as this time around, neither of them would be in a position to form government at the Centre on their own.
He said that the TRS is averse to both the BJP and the Congress: “At present, we do not want to support or join the NDA. But I cannot predict how my party’s line would be in future,” he said, adding a rider to a question on if the TRS would back the NDA should the need arise, while speaking to the editorial team of The New Indian Express at Express Chat here on Wednesday.
He took exception to BJP leader Ram Madhav describing the coalition of regional parties as a “kichidi sarkar” if it comes to power. “He should know that kichidi smells better and tastes better,” Vinod said.
He added that unlike in the past, this time, the regional parties, as a front, might even get more seats than either the BJP or the Congress, and in such case, constituents of the NDA and UPA would be eager to support the new formation. “It is the regional parties which would dictate terms even if they have to support either NDA or the UPA because they would be made to realise that they would be in power because of them. This collective approach by the regional parties is a departure from the past, where the party which had more seats used to approach them individually to get their support and after the formation of the government, they never bothered about them,” Vinod Kumar said.
Vinod Kumar was emphatic that the next government would be a coalition one as no single party would be able to get the majority. “I am sure BJP will not get more than 175 seats and even with its NDA allies’ seats, the number might not cross 200 figure. Similarly, for the Congress to get 100 or 110 seats would be a Herculean task.”
This would leave the political canvas wide open for six leaders in five states — Akhilesh Yadav and Mayavathi in UP, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Naveen Patnaik in Odisha, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in AP and K Chandrasekhar Rao in Telangana. In all the five states, the number of seats will be 185. In all these states, the Congress is not visible at all except Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, he said, adding, “It is only the post-poll arrangement that is crucial. The NDA took birth after 1988 polls and the UPA in 2004. This time too, a new formation might emerge after the results are announced.”
He also denied that the TRS is trying to poach only the UPA partners to help the BJP. “I condemn this. All those leaders whom the TRS had approached are not with Congress.”