Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi President K Chandrasekhar Rao has invited regional party leaders to Hyderabad for a state event, triggering speculation about him lobbying for a third front, The News Minute reported on Wednesday.
Among those invited to the May 10 event are Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Working President MK Stalin, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Biju Janata Dal President Naveen Patnaik and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren, the Hindustan Times reported.
“These dignitaries will attend the launch of Rythu Bandhu [an investment support scheme for farmers], a prestigious programme of the chief minister that has attracted nationwide attention,” a spokesperson in Rao’s office said. “Invitations are being extended to other regional party heads too.”
In March, Rao had proposed an alliance that excludes the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its main opposition, the Congress. Leaders like Mamata Banerjee, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi had backed his plan.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, more than 10 parties had floated a Third Front, but they lost.
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