Hyderabad: The Federal Front will play an important role in bargaining politics for the smaller states and eventually secure more space for south India in national politics, experts said at a seminar, ‘Federal Front: Importance in India’, held on Sunday.
Osmania College of Arts principal Prof D. Ravinder said, “The development of the northern states is happening due to the revenue from South India.” Pointing at the “BIMARU” states — Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Prad-esh with weak economies — Prof. Ravinder said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had been asking people to produce more children, because the population would increase and evidently the number of seats will increase leading to an increase in representation.
Concurring with Prof. Ravinder, Prof. V. Janardhan of the University of Hyderabad said that currently there was no federal mindset and the Congress and the BJP did not have proper representation in the southern states. It is due to this reason that the southern states are not getting funds or having a say in major decisions. Consequently, it was important to discuss on the Federal Front, he said.
Prof. Ravinder said, “Democracy gets a boost where there is coalition politics. This will let smaller voices get more space. The big question is about the survival of a non-Congress, non-BJP front. Even if it cannot be the kingmaker, at least the front will play a role in making the king.”
Prof. Janardhan said, “Lack of a proper blueprint is the reason for the failure of fronts apart from the political agenda that drives it. The federal front should move forward keeping in view failures, by laws and terms and conditions.”
The seminar was organised by BC and SC organisations and former student leaders Pidamarthi Ravi and Rajaram Yadav and members of the TRS.
TRS general secretary Gattu Ramchandra Rao said, “A political Federal Front will find it difficult to survive but a People’s Federal Front will survive. Currently, monopoly rule is going on in the country with the Centre intervening in every decision which ideally the states should take.”
