At first port of call, Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao gets West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee's endorsement for Federal Front

HYDERABAD/KOLKATA: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s ambition to spearhead a ‘political alternative’ in the national stage is beginning to take shape. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has thrown her weight behind the proposed ‘Federal Front’ after a two-hour meeting with her Telangana counterpart at the Bengal Secretariat in Kolkata on Monday.

“I fully agree with whatever Mr Rao has said. There is a need to form an alternative political platform in the country. We have started a dialogue in this regard. We will hold talks with other leaders too. A stronger political alternative should emerge by the next general elections,” she said after the meeting.

However, while both Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart and Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu have indicated that they want the Congress out of the ‘Federal Front’ considering the political equations in their respective home states, Mamata Banerjee seems to have decided to tread slow over inclusion of the grand old party in the anti-BJP alliance.

Mamata, who was the first leader to endorse KCR’s decision to stitch an alternative political narrative, evaded direct questions on the possibility of the Congress being included in the game.