Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is following in the footsteps of Telugu Desam TD founder-president and former Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao, in trying to put together a Third Front.
Before floating the National Front in 1988-89, NTR called national leaders of several parties to Mahanadu, the biennial conclave of the TD, and brought all political leaders under one roof.
Similarly, Mr Rao is planning to invite all national and regional party leaders to the plenary of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, scheduled for April, before launching a Third Front. Mr Rao has great personal admiration for NTR and even named his son Taraka Rama Rao.
While NTR formed the National Front as an alternative to the Congress, Mr Rao is planning a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative at the national level.
Mr Rao is likely to announce the Third Front on the TRS’ foundation day, April 27. Since floating such a front signals his entry into national politics, TRS leaders from Nalgonda district have invited him to contest the Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat in the next general election. If he intends to do so, he may well hold the TRS foundation day in Nalgonda.
When the National Front was formed, the late P. Upendra, a Union minister, had played a key role in assisting NTR in national politics. Major irrigation minister and a relative of Mr Rao, T. Harish Rao, is likely to play a similar role in the Third Front. Mr Rao has often called Harish Rao his lucky mascot.
