Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Monday, triggering speculations of the creation of a ‘third front like’ formation ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
KCR, the head of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), held around an hour-long meeting with the Trinamool Congress supremo to discuss the formation of a unified alliance to take on both Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“For the last 71 years what has been happening in this country? What will happen if BJP comes or Congress comes? Will there be a chamatkar (magic)? This country needs a chamatkar,” said KCR to the media in the presence of Banerjee after the meeting.
“Both Congress and BJP have really not worked well and there is need for an alternative agenda for development and political force,” he said.
“We have to take our country like East Asian tigers, like China, and this country has a great opportunity,” said KCR, adding, “We have a lot of natural and mineral resources.”
Terming the meet a “good beginning”, KCR said that the two leaders agreed to bring in a “real federal front” and called the alliance “people’s agenda”.
“Today is just a beginning. We have to talk to all of the others,” he said while telling the reporters not to read this as any other alliance of political parties.
Banerjee, too, called the meeting a good beginning. She said that the two parties are not in a hurry to form a federal front and will be talking to other parties gradually.
“We want the federal front to be strong. If the states are strong the front will be strong. We are not in a hurry,” she said.
KCR praised Mamata’s leadership and said that under her, the skyline of West Bengal has developed, which is “really appreciable”.
The Andhra CM had recently sparked talks of a national alliance that will not have either the Congress or the BJP, and will offer the electorate a third option in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections next year.