Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday strongly hinted a there being a Third Front ahead of the 2019 General election, one without the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its main opposition, the Congress.
“There is a serious need to bring change in national politics,” Rao said at a Telangana Rashtra Samithi party meeting. “People are looking for change. Can we expect something new to happen if Congress comes to power after BJP? It can be a third front or any front… Discussions are going on. There is no secret about it.” He added that he had nothing against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I have nothing against the BJP, but it has failed to deliver (and) that is why a third front may emerge which will unite like-minded people. I am against the slow progress that this country is making.”
Rao’s regional rival Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has also recently opposed the Bharatiya Janata Party, though it is allied with the saffron outfit. Rao did not mention if he was speaking to any leaders about a concrete Third Front.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, more than 10 parties had floated a Third Front, though they had lost. This included the Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, among others.
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