Not now, says KCR on floating national party

Hyderabad,: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday clarified that there is no proposal for now to float a national party.

Addressing Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) legislators, he made the clarification amid reports in a section of media that he will form a national party.

Rao, however, did not rule out such a proposal. According to party sources, he told the legislators that a decision would be taken at the right time after discussion.

The meeting of the TRS Legislature Party was held to discuss the party's strategy in the state legislature session which began on Monday.

KCR, as the TRS chief is popularly known, slammed both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, saying they destroyed the country and reiterated that there is a need for an alternative.

It was in 2018 that KCR had floated the idea of a front of like-minded parties as an alternative to both the BJP and the Congress, and intensified the efforts after retaining power in Telangana in December 2018 elections.

He had held talks with West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik, Janata Dal-Secular leader and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and DMK chief M.K. Stalin.

KCR's son and TRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao had also held talks early last year with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

However, the front did not take shape before the 2019 elections as leaders of some regional parties showed reluctance in joining the anti-Congress alliance.

The TRS chief, who was looking for an active role in national politics, was hopeful that a post-poll alliance of anti-BJP and anti-Congress parties would come to power.

With the BJP retaining power at the Centre with a massive majority, KCR had dumped the idea of a front and confined himself to the state.

Meanwhile, opposition Congress leader in Telangana, Jagga Reddy said if KCR floats a national party, it will become a laughing stock. "A national party can't be run by sitting under four walls," he said.

Jagga Reddy said leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar failed to form a national party. He also remarked that several regional parties will not join hands with KCR.