KCR does not rule out possibility of Congress being part of Federal Front, will also meet Chandrababu Naidu

HYDERABAD: In a clear indication given in Chennai on Sunday, TRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said the possibility of the Congress being associated with the Federal Front could not be ruled out.

This statement compromises his own utterances that the Federal Front would be a coming together of regional parties opposed to the BJP and the Congress. Simultaneously, he criticised the 'dictatorial trends' in the country, without naming the BJP, and emphasised that India has to be a secular nation.

Chandrashekar Rao met DMK working president MK Stalin and discussed with him about the formation of the Federal Front that he has proposed. He had also met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress on March 19 and JDS leaders former prime minister Deve Gowda and former chief minister of Karnataka Kumaraswamy on April 13.

"We are not in a hurry. We will not desert them. We have not arrived at any conclusion about the Congress. We do not want to be hasty on the issue," Chandrashekar Rao said in reply to a question during his interaction with the media along with M K Stalin. He said in the next two or three months, more meetings would be held and decisions will be taken based on consensus. KCR said both he and Stalin also had a telephonic discussion with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banjeree.

From what KCR said, it is a climb down from his earlier stance that the Federal Front which he conceived was to be a non-Congress, and non-BJP entity. Agreeing with Stalin, KCR said they had discussed many things pertaining to the Federal Front but would only after a consensus was arrived at would they make public the decisions.

In response to another question from the media if the Federal Front was projecting Mamata Banjeree as its leader, Chandrashekar Rao quipped: "It is you who is doing that." This answer of KCR leaves the question of leadership of the Federal Front open.

Chandrashekar Rao took a chartered flight from the Begumpet airport in Hyderabad, like his visits to Kolkata and Bengaluru, and landed in Chennai with several TRS leaders accompanying him. They included TRS secretary general K Keshava Rao, finance minister Eatala Rajendar, government whip in the council and TRS general secretary Palle Rajeshwara Reddy.

From the airport, he straight drove to the residence of DMK president and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi and met him. M K Stalin reached his father's residence in advance to welcome Chandrashekar Rao. From there, he drove to Stalin's residence. After lunch and discussions with Stalin, KCR and Stalin spoke to the media.

"We have a healthy discussion," Stalin said about his meeting with Chandrashekar Rao. The Telangana chief minister said he was 'lucky' that 'Kalaignar' (Karunanidhi) had responded to him. "He also presented me with some books," he said. Chandrashekar Rao recalled that both the DMK and the TRS had been part of the UPA-1 government and worked together. He said he had also visited Chennai in 2004 to seek the blessings of Karunanidhi. "He is the tallest leader in the country, more so in the South," he said describing Karunanidhi.

Chandrashekar Rao told the media about the 'Rythu bandhu' scheme in Telangana where farmers will be given Rs 8,000 per acre per year as part of the investment support scheme for agriculture. He said the distribution of cheques would begin on May 10 and that he had invited Stalin to be the chief guest for the inauguration. "I hope he comes," he said.

The chief minister said there should be 'truthful federalism' in the country where states gets their due share in devolution of funds and also enjoy the autonomy they should be. Describing the meeting with Stalin as 'delightful', Chandrashekar Rao also said he was served good food for lunch which he 'really enjoyed'.