AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday said that he has asked Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to form a third front for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Owaisi’s AIMIM and KCR’s Bharat Rashtra Samiti or BRS were not invited to join the Opposition’s INDIA bloc.
“I don’t care about not being invited. BSP chief Mayawati, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, and several parties from Northeast and Maharashtra are also not members of this alliance…,” he told news agency ANI when asked about the INDIA bloc overlooking him.
The AIMIM chief said that there continues to be a political vacuum in the country and the INDIA alliance can’t fill that.
“We have asked Telangana CM KCR to go ahead and form a third front and take several parties in this. There is a political vacuum which will be filled if KCR takes the lead. INDIA alliance is not being able to fill this vacuum,” he said.
As many as 28 Opposition parties-led by principal Opposition Congress have come together to form an alliance named INDIA – Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance. The INDIA alliance partners have resolved to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together “as far as possible”.
However, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, KCR’s BRS, Meghalya CM Conrad Sangma’s NPP and several other regional parties are not part of the alliance. The NPP is an ally of the BJP-led NDA, but Sangma has recently held a meeting with KCR. While he maintained the discussions during the meeting were related to the governance, some political issues did arise.
In an exclusive interview with The Statesman, Sangma was asked about his meeting with regional leaders including KCR. “…while remaining committed to our NDA affiliation, the NPP remains open to the possibility of contesting elections independently if the situation demands it,” he said, hinting towards a split from the NDA.
Mayawati has also denied joining the alliance with INDIA as well as NDA, terming both “anti-poor”. She, however, said that her party will contest the 2024 general elections on its own.