Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao visited Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Sunday to discuss the possibility of political parties teaming up against the Bharatiya Janata Party for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, PTI reported.
Rao and DMK Working President MK Stalin also had a telephonic conversation with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during their meeting. “We will further talk to other leaders across the country,” Rao told ANI. “We are firm that India should be a secular country, there is no second alternative about it.”
Rao had met Banerjee in Kolkata in March, and said they made “a good beginning” towards the formation of a Third Front ahead of the elections. The Third Front, proposed by Rao in March, excludes the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its main opposition, the Congress. Political leaders such as Mamata Banerjee, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi have already backed his plan.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, more than 10 parties had floated a Third Front, but they lost.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!