K Chandrasekhar Rao’s front has difficult road

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao who floated the idea of a non-Congress and non-BJP Federal Front, is said to be trying to convince other parties about his seat matrix theory, without much success.

Sources close to the Chief Minister said that the TRS chief has reportedly told other leaders like BJD’s Naveen Patnaik and Kerala Chief Minister and Communist leader Pinarayi Vijayan that regional parties would win most of the 150 Lok Sabha seats in the five southern states and would play crucial role in the government formation at the Centre.

He feels that the BJP and the Congress would not win many seats in these states as the BJP and Congress would not fare well in Tamil Nadu, AP and Telangana.

Despite allying with the Telugu Desam in AP, the BJP could win only 21 seats in the South in 2014, mostly coming from Karnataka.

In the current Lok Sabha elections, Mr Rao claims the TRS and YSR Congress together would win around 40 seats in both states. If the Biju Janata Dal, DMK, JD(S) and the Left Democratic Front in Kerala join the Federal Front, they could play a crucial role in deciding the future Prime Minister of the country.

However, two regional parties in the south - the JD(S) and the DMK are Congress allies and have supported Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the PM’s post. DMK chief M.K. Stalin, therefore, is not so keen on Mr Rao’s political alternative.

Similarly, neither Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee nor BSP chief Mayawati nor Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has openly supported the idea of the Federal Front so far.

Though Mr Rao is harping on the seat matrix, without the support of the other parties it will be difficult for him to achieve his dream.