Hyderabad: The decision of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to attend the meeting planned by National Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, has put TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in a fix.
At a joint press conference the two chief ministers gave after their discussion in Kolkata two days ago, Ms Banerjee was non-committal when asked by the med-ia if she wanted a non-Congress front. “Don’t put your words in my mouth. KCR has told his opinions. I am agreeing with his opinions. KCR has right to express his opinions. The other day Rahul Gandhi also ex-pressed his opinions.”
Attending the NCP meeting will give wrong signals, said a senior TRS leader. “Yes, it is a really embarrassing situation for KCR when Mamata decides to attend NCP meeting,” he said.
If the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) join the federal front, that will certainly strengthen it. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has welcomed Mr Rao’s federal front proposal. But most regional and some national parties have made adjustments with either the Congress or BJP according to the local political equations. So in Uttar Pradesh, the SP, and in TN, the DMK, are partners in the UPA.
As for both the parties their main rival is the BJP and to come to power they have to stay with the UPA.
The secretary general of the TRS, K Keshav Rao, however, says politics is an uncertain business. Speaking to this newspaper, he said that Mr Rao has floated one idea on formation of a federal front against the BJP and Congress and many parties have welcomed this. “But this is just the beginning. Let other parties also have discussions. We cannot say what will happen tomorrow in politics,” he added.
