“I appeal to all Telugu-speaking people in Karnataka to support JD(S).” These were the words spoken by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao after his meeting with Janata Dal (Secular) supremo Deve Gowda and party President HD Kumaraswamy in Bengaluru on Friday.
KCR had come to hold talks with Deve Gowda at his residence in Padmanabhanagar regarding his new effort to form a Federal Front with non-BJP and non-Congress political parties ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Extending support to the JD(S) in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections, which are less than a month away, KCR told the media, “I will come and campaign in Karnataka wherever Deve Gowda asks me to. Be it the Hyderabad-Karnataka region or any area. I will come and campaign.”
Sources in the JD(S) said that several messages have flooded social media and WhatsApp groups in Kolar, Chikkaballapura and parts of Hyderabad-Karnataka region, which are asking people to not vote for Congress and BJP.
"These are regions with a large Telugu-speaking population. A few weeks ago, messages have circulated in local-level WhatsApp groups, which are asking Telugu-speaking people to vote for JD(S). This may be an election strategy," the source added.
KCR, who reached Deve Gowda’s home at around 12 pm, was accompanied by actor Prakash Raj. The leaders are said to have discussed the formation of a “People’s Front” and a campaign against the national parties.
“I am proposing for a movement to bring about qualitative change in the country. These two systems called the Congress party and BJP have ruled the country for more than 65 years and have failed miserably in delivering. Why should there be a fight between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the fight for Cauvery water? Why did it have to be kept pending for seven decades? Does it make any sense? One thing is very clear. India is bestowed with 70,000 TMC of water and 40 crore acres of cultivable land. And only 25-30 crore acres is sown for the first crop of the year. Only 5-6 lakh crore is irrigated in the second crop. Who is responsible for water wars? Is the Congress going to answer to this?” he questioned.
The Chief Minister of Telangana also hinted at proposing a project of connecting rivers in India, whilst citing China as an example.
“There is a river in our neighbouring country China, the Yang Xi, they have connected this river to north China and delivered 16,000 TMC of water. Tribunals will be formed; its orders will be contested in SC and this will go on for decades and those in Delhi will sit and enjoy their seats. The Centre can set a deadline for the tribunal to deliver its verdict. It is clear that these two political parties have failed miserably. It is all because of the inability of these two systems. This is not a silly political front. This will be the alignment of the masses of India. Whoever wants to be a part of the alliance and agrees with our mandate will be welcome. This will be the Peoples Front of India,” he added.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, JD(S) President HD Kumaraswamy said that he discussed several issues with KCR and one of them was the party’s manifesto for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Kumaraswamy said that he had taken advice from KCR regarding a “people-friendly manifesto”.
“I have taken inputs from KCR regarding the manifesto. What things can be added to make it more people-friendly and pro-poor,” Kumaraswamy said.
Veteran actor, Prakash Raj, who has been vocal about his political views off late, said that he had been discussing the issue of the Third Front with KCR for several months now. The actor said that he was going to be “a part of a think-tank and a movement to bring change in the country”.
“The time has come where people have to decide, the people have to know that we need a change in a system which has failed to deliver. We are talking about a national party which has failed to deliver. We need to think ahead. All the formulae they have worked on for the last 70 years is not coming together and it has not worked so far. For the last few months I have been having discussions with KCR. Why I am here is because he is not talking about party politics. He is not talking about one man becoming PM and taking power. This is not about coming together to throw somebody out of power. It is for us to come together and understand why the issues which have been going on for years have not been solved and to find another way to come to a consensus and create a mass movement so that all like-minded people can come together and ensure that the issues are solved and we deliver to the people,” he added.
KCR’s meeting with Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy comes on the back of his meeting with Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. The two had on March 19 discussed the possibility of the Federal Front. Mamata Banerjee supported the idea and assured KCR of working together with him.
KCR, who is taking the plunge into national politics, had earlier announced he would hold a series of meetings at the national level with various organisations, associations and individuals to take forward the idea of the Federal Front.