Pouring cold water on Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrashekhar Rao’s bid to rope in DMK in his proposed federal front, MK Stalin on Tuesday said that he does not see the possibility of the formation of a government of the Third Front at the Centre.

“I don’t think there is a chance for a third front. But it will be known only after results on May 23,” DMK chief Stalin was quoted as saying by ANI.

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On his meeting with Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, Stalin clarified that the TRS leader had come to Tamil Nadu to visit temples and not form fronts adding that it was just a courtesy visit.

The proposed alternative front appeared to be a non-starter with the Dravidian party chief MK Stalin urging the Telangana Chief Minister to extend TRS’s support to the Congress.

Earlier on Monday, DMK sources said that Rao had called on Stalin at his residence in Chennai and discussed with him his proposal for a federal front, in an effort to bring together regional parties.

In the meeting that went beyond an hour, Stalin conveyed to Rao that his party was in a pre-poll alliance with the Congress and he had also pitched the name of Rahul Gandhi for the office of the Prime Minister, according to a PTI report.

“Thalaivar (Stalin) urged Rao to extend Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s support for a Congress-led government at the Centre,” DMK sources told PTI.

Rao, who had days ago called on his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan, exuded confidence in the deliberations that regional parties would emerge as a powerful force with a significant number of seats and neither the Congress nor the BJP would have adequate numbers to form a government after Lok Sabha polls.

In such an eventuality, the TRS chief told the DMK president that a government could be propped up by the regional parties with the support of “national parties,” a reference perceived to include the Left parties as well.

Possible “post-poll scenarios” that may merge and how a federal front could help regional parties and “southern States,” were put forth by Rao, sources added.

To this, the DMK side, which was also represented by senior leaders Duraimurugan and TR Baalu, felt the situation was conducive only for a Congress-led government at the Centre.

The TRS is opposed to both Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Telangana.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president KS Alagiri downplayed the meeting between the two leaders and asked journalists “why accord importance to the meeting… in India, a third front is not possible and not practicable; State parties from Kasmir to Kanyakumari know this very well.”

(With PTI inputs)