Hyderabad: The cVoter survey released on Thursday has given a big boost to the Federal Front proposed by Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
According to the survey, neither the NDA led by the BJP, nor the UPA led by the Congress can form the government at the Centre. There is thus a possibility of a non-BJP and non-Congress government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections likely to be scheduled for April-May 2019.
The idea behind Mr Rao’s proposed Federal Front is to bring a non-BJP and non-Congress government at the Centre, and he has been working towards this end for a year now, as he believes a qualitative change is required in national politics, which has been dominated for too long by these two national parties.
Mr Rao believes that the Federal Front will really begin to take shape in the post-poll world as several regional parties may join it. He has already had discussions with Ms Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool, Mr Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal, Mr M.K. Stalin of the AIADMK and leaders of Left parties too.
He is likely to have discussions with former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy about the Federal Front. Former UP Chief Minister Mayawati of the BSP is another leader he may meet soon as he intensifies his efforts to forge the new front.
The future of the Federal Front will depend mainly on the decision of the Trinamool, the SP and the BSP, as these three parties are likely to contribute 80 to 90 Members of Parliament. And should the Federal Front with these parties in it form the government, then Ms Mayawati and Ms Mamata Banerjee would be front runners for the post of Prime Minister.
In Telangana state, if the TRS wins 16 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats as Mr Rao asserts, Ms Mayawati and Ms Mamata Banerjee will still have more say than Mr Rao. According to the cVoter survey, even the YSR Congress in AP will win more Lok Sabha seats than the TRS in TS.
Mr Rao may not have any reservations about supporting either Ms Mayawati or Ms Banerjee, but this will mean that even with the Federal Front coming out on top, the Prime Minister could still be from North India. Parties from South India could then demand the Deputy Prime Minister’s post, and thus Mr Rao may become Deputy Prime Minister, though he is the main architect of the Federal Front.
In the event of a hung parliament, the BJP and the Congress, in order to get the upper hand, may agree to support the Federal Front to form the government by giving outside support. Most of the parties in the Federal Front are against the BJP and pro Congress except for the TRS and YSRC which are anti Congress. So the big question is: will the Federal Front take the support of the BJP or the Congress?
Once the NDA and UPA are seen to have no chance to form the government, the allies on both sides may join the Federal Front, hopes a TRS leader. But neither the BJP nor the Congress is likely to give up so easily and will attempt to get some parties supporting the Federal Front to switch sides.
