Fresh from a remarkable victory for her party in the assembly elections, Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Wednesday backed her father and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s description of Congress president Rahul Gandhi that has provoked a sharp reaction from his party.

“The chief minister referred to Rahul Gandhi by a name. The definition of it clearly says a person who does silly things is called a buffoon. It is as simple as that. There is nothing secret about it,” Kavitha, who represents Nizamabad parliamentary constituency, told media in New Delhi.

She pointed out that the whole nation had watched when the Opposition leader, breaking all the established practices of parliament, suddenly crossed over (to the treasury benches) and hugged the Prime Minister. “Everybody felt it was very silly move and that is why our party president responded to it,” she said.

Kavitha played down the victory of the Congress in the recent assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which were described as semifinals to the parliament elections. She said that the Congress was a big failure in Telangana, in Madhya Pradesh it won by default and there was no clear mandate from the people. The BJP gave it a tough fight and the people watched it like a T20 cricket match.

In Rajasthan, the Congress expected a landslide victory, but it just managed to scrape through. This does not show the might of the Congress, but only the state of default politics in the country, she observed.

“I can say with great confidence that had there been a powerful regional party in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the results would have been different. In the coming days, you will see that regional parties will have a greater role to play in the national politics because whatever national parties could not do in addressing the aspirations of the people, the regional parties will be able to do,” she said.

The TRS MP expressed confidence that federal front would become a reality and it would address the needs of the people rather than political parties. “There have been various political groups in the country till now. While some have succeeded, others have failed. We believe that a neutral platform should be established which is free of both the BJP and Congress,” she said.

Referring to DMK leader Stalin’s backing to Rahul Gandhi as PM, she pointed out that there were differences within the pro-Congress alliance. Leader of one party proposes Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate, but from the same group, two strong regional parties object to it.

“Our attempt of a third front is not about making one person the Prime Minister or bringing one party to power. It is about solving the real issues concerning the people, which have been pending for several decades. Our party has proved it in Telangana and we shall strive to replicate the Telangana model across the country,” she said.

First Published: Dec 19, 2018 13:46 IST