KCR's proposed Front is First, not Third: KT Rama Rao

Hyderabad: IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday termed the alternative proposed by TRS chief and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao against BJP and Congress at national level as ‘First Front’ and not ‘Third’ as was being publicised.

He reasoned that the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA could be termed as second and third fronts and KCR’s proposed one would become the ‘first’ in the 2019 elections by bringing all regional parties together and capturing power at the Centre. He said the NDA had no one except a weak Akali Dal after Shiv Sena and TD had come out snapping ties with the BJP and as was the case with UPA which had no major allies.

Mr Rama Rao said the politics in the country was not just about the BJP and the Congress, but regional parties whi-ch were stronger than national ones.

“First or foremost, there are no national parties in India. They can be termed as a big-sized regional parties as they don’t have base in major states,” he said, adding that the BJP and the Congress should introspect why this situation had come for them.

The Congress and the BJP failed miserably in providing even basic needs to people because of ‘misgovernance’. It was to bring a change for the better that KCR had proposed an alternative front, he said.

Both the parties were responsible for ‘too much centralisation’ of powers at national level, leaving states at the mercy of the Centre. “Where is the need for implemeting PM’s schemes in villages for laying roads, providing LPG connections, electricity etc, when states can handle that,” Mr Rama Rao said. The proposed front aimed to transfer all powers to states except issues like national security, banking and currency.

He came down heavily on the NDA government for not granting even a single institution promised to TS under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

It neither granted a ‘single rupee’ to TS over and above the tax devolution which the state was entitled to in the four years. “AP is at least fortunate to get some institutes like IIT, NIT, IIM etc,” he added.