By G Krishna Mohan Rao*
All eyes are on tomorrow’s luncheon meeting between the Telangana and Maharashtra CMs
Even as the assembly election process is underway in five states, interesting political developments are taking place on the national scene. Some of the dissatisfied Chief Ministers of the non-Bharatiya Janata Party and the non- Congress-ruled states are making an attempt to come together under one umbrella and even float a separate Front. The unhappy Chief Ministers are making a frontal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not honouring the federal spirit of the Constitution and also indulging in divisive politics, which they say would hamper the secular and composite culture of the country.
In this context, the Sunday luncheon meeting in Mumbai, between Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is a significant one. Described as ‘purely political’, the meeting is expected to focus on the likely outcome of the ongoing assembly polls in five states and the future strategy to be adopted. It was Thackeray who telephoned and invited KCR to Mumbai on February 20, 2022, for a meeting and it is said that it would be part of rallying the opposition parties to present a united face against the ruling BJP, in the days to come.
For several months, the Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee has been making a frontal attack on the BJP government in general and Prime Minister Modi in particular. It looks now, that it is the turn of KCR to take on Narendra Modi on various issues including the slow down in the implementation of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. The Telangana chief minister virtually declared war on the BJP government at his press conference last week. Initially, KCR was seen as a bit neutral and soft towards the Modi government. Now it is apparently all-out offensive and he seems to itch to float a Front against the NDA.
Repeated attacks on the BJP leadership by KCR is being seen that he wants to send out a clear message to all national opposition parties that he is no longer soft on the BJP. Further, KCR is now said to have realised that time has come for him to play a major role in national politics. For some time KCR has been making extra efforts to build bridges with nationally relevant opposition leaders.
In fact, for more than a month, informal consultations have been going on among the chief ministers of the regional parties including the Trinamul Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, (TRS), the Shiv Sena, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The Telangana Chief Minister is in regular touch with his counterparts Mamata Bannerjee (West Bengal), MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Pinrai Vijayan (Kerala0, Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi) and Uddhav Thackeray. Further, KCR is also in touch with the Janata Dal-United (JDU) leader and chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar as well as the Bihar Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders Laloo Prasad Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav. In Uttar Pradesh, Mamata and KCR are in touch with Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, while extending full support to him in the ensuing assembly elections.
Last week, former Prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Deve Gowda called up KCR and extended full support for the cause of opposing BJP and fighting the communal forces. It is said that KCR is expected to visit Bangalore shortly to hold further consultations. On the other hand, there are reports, that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin suggested a get together of regional party leaders in Delhi to discuss political issues.
During his last two press conferences in February 2022 in Hyderabad, KCR openly expressed his desire to play a role in national politics and, if needed float a national party to take on the BJP. KCR as well as other regional leaders, time and again, have been suggesting some kind of a – federal front – consisting of the Trinamul Congress, TRS, NCP, DMK, SS, Samajwadi party, AAP and RJD and other like-minded parties to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
KCR’s new political stance of attacking the BJP and the Prime Minister is being seen in the political circles that there could be a realignment of forces at the national level in March after the five state assembly poll results are out.
However, there is no clarity among these regional parties on the issue of dealing with the Congress party. Some parties want to work with Congress, but do not want to give leadership to the Congress Party since it has weakened considerably at the national level. For some regional parties, Congress is the main rival in their States, and for the parties like ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and DMK in Tamil Nadu, Congress is an alliance partner and do not want to antagonise it on the ground level.
Political pundits feel, that given the fact that Congress Party has weakened itself over the years, hence it should extend issue-based support to a new front, as and when it emerges on the national scene. It is also argued that politically it is not feasible for the regional parties to maintain equidistance from BJP and Congress as it would help the BJP.
So, tomorrow’s luncheon meeting is expected to be a crucial one for the opposition politics in the country. Anyhow, what kind of proposed anti-BJP front takes place, will be cleared during the upcoming Presidential and Vice presidential election scheduled later in July-August, 2022.
*Senior Delhi-based journalist
