Regional parties will call shots in 2019, says IT Minister KT Rama Rao

HYDERABAD: Sharpening his attack on the NDA government,  IT Minister KT Rama Rao has asked the the BJP to introspect as to why the regional parties are moving away.  “Many regional parties are deserting the NDA. In fact, at present, no strong regional party is with the NDA, except a weak Akali Dal. Hence, the NDA leadership should do some soul-searching on why the allies are leaving it,” KTR said. 

Speaking to newsmen in Delhi on Saturday, he said that the Centre is neither releasing adequate funds nor fulfilling its promises made to  States. “For instance, Telangana has not been allocated a single rupee additionally in the Union budget, except the funds which the State needed to get rightfully as per the recommendations made by the Finance Commission. Andhra Pradesh too faced the same situation. I think this could be the reason for the TDP to distance itself from the Union government,” the IT Minister remarked. 

Against the backdrop of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s efforts to form an alternative political front at the national level,  KTR predicted that in the 2019 polls neither BJP nor the Congress will get required majority to form the government.    

Hence, regional parties will play a key role in forming the government at the Centre, he added.KTR said Centre’s dominance on States should not continue forever. “There is a need to checkmate the hegemony of the Centre, which is keeping all powers with it. In order to accomplish this task,  KCR is forming a front at the national level.” he said. KTR felt that both Congress and the BJP, which had ruled the country in the past 70 years, had failed to live up to the expectations of people. Stating that India is never the nation of two political parties - BJP and Congress, KTR stressed the strong need for bringing a new alternative political force to the two national parties.

Interestingly, he did not want to call the proposed political formation by KCR as the “Third Front.” Instead he preferred to name it as the “First Front.” “Ours is not the Third Front. It will be the First Front. Why should we call it a Third Front, which will play a key role at the Centre when the two national parties fail to get the required majority to form the next government after the next general elections? It should be called a First Front,” he commented.

“All powers are concentrated in the hands of Delhi rulers.  States are not empowered to take initiatives for the welfare of people as per local needs,” he commented.   “On one hand, we have 74,000 tmcft of surplus river waters in the country and on the other, farmers’ suicides are on the rise. The Centre is claiming that it is generating surplus power. But, there are many villages which have no access to electricity. This situation should change. That’s why KCR is demanding for transfer of powers from Delhi to States,’’ the minister said.