Will continue efforts to build non-UPA, non-NDA coalition: TRS leader

Hyderabad: TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao will renew efforts to forge a non-NDA, non-UPA front after the Telangana Assembly election, a key party leader said Monday. K T Rama Rao, the son of caretaker Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao, also took an aim at N Chandrababu Naidu for his attempts to bring together Opposition parties to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "Desperate times, they say, call for desperate measures," is how Rama Rao termed the efforts of Naidu, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister.

In an interview to PTI, Rama Rao -- KTR as he is referred to by many -- alleged that Naidu was desperate because he was in a bad shape politically in his home state, where the Assembly election are due next year. "He (Naidu) is trying to shift the blame of his failure of governance on to the central government. He wants to give an impression that he is fighting against (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi", KTR said. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader said Naidu wants to paint Modi as a "villain" of this region, but KTR pointed out that Modi and the BJP were a "non-entity" in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

"It shows his (Naidu's) level of frustration," KTR said, describing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president's moves to forge Opposition unity against the BJP as part of a cover-up for his "failure" as the chief minister. Naidu had recently met Congress president Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda and DMK head M K Stalin, among others, as part of his efforts. Earlier this year, Chandrasekhar Rao had also met TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and Deve Gowda, among others, to prop up a non-Congress, non-BJP front. On a perception in some quarters that Chandrasekhar Rao's efforts on this front have failed, KTR said the aim of the TRS was not to garner power by forging opportunistic alliances.

After December 11, when the Assembly polls results will be declared, KTR asserted that Chandrasekhar Rao would come back as the chief minister and renew steps to build such a front. "Our efforts to build a non-NDA, non-UPA coalition will continue because it's in the larger interest of the country," Rama Rao said, alleging that both the Congress and the BJP had failed the country. In a federal set-up, states need to be empowered, he said. "Our efforts are not to form a 'khichdi' government based on opportunistic alliances. We want to continue our efforts (to build a non-UPA, non-NDA front). Let's see how it shapes up."