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Amid the rift within the INDIA bloc following West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's vow to go solo in their respective states in Lok Sabha polls, Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leader KT Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, has hinted at the possibility of a 'third front', to be led by party chief and former Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR).
In an exclusive interview with ANI, KTR said, "If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has to be stopped, then the people should support regional leaders like KCR, Mamata or Kejriwal (Delhi Chief Minister) because Congress cannot stop the BJP. On one side, Rahul Gandhi is doing Bharat Jodo but on the other side, the INDI alliance is developing differences. Only regional parties and strong regional leaders can stop the BJP. So, we should strengthen the regional forces. Only the Congress and Rahul Gandhi can't defeat the BJP. KCR knew that Congress would not give any respect to any party. That is why we have been talking about a non-Congress and non-BJP coalition; a third front or federal front should be formed." "However, we hope that discussions take place on this. We made efforts towards it around two years ago. Unfortunately, it did not succeed. However, we are focusing on Telangana now. If we get a good number of seats in Telangana in the Lok Sabha polls, maybe we can succeed in the talks with regional forces like Akhilesh (Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav), Mamata, Kejriwal and others," he added. The BRS leader further said that the meeting of the INDIA bloc was merely a 'Chai-biscuit' meeting. "No one can form any alliance with the Congress by tolerating their arrogance. We earlier also said that the INDI Alliance meeting is just a chai-biscuit meeting. It has turned out to be true. The TMC and the AAP have proved this. Others will also not be with them (Congress). The party is 'Ghamandi' (arrogant) and they don't believe in taking anyone along," he said. The INDIA bloc is currently attempting to combat the inner differences emerging within the alliance. Earlier, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and his West Bengal counterpart, Mamata Banerjee, announced they would go solo in their respective states in the Lok Sabha polls. However, a day after the duo made the announcement, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi adopted a conciliatory tone, saying that the INDIA bloc will fight 'Anyay' together. "BJP and RSS are spreading hatred, violence and injustice. So, INDIA formation is going to fight 'Anyay' together," he said while addressing a public gathering during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. The conciliatory tone was also sounded by Jairam Ramesh who reiterated that Mamata was an important part of the INDIA bloc. "I have said that TMC is an important pillar of INDIA bloc which comprises 28 parties. Mamata Banerjee is an experienced and energetic leader of the country, a tall leader. We respect her...Everyone knows that she holds a special place and identity in the politics of our country. I am very confident that she too wants to defeat the BJP, we also want the same. We will fight together. We will make INDIA Alliance successful. That is our duty" Jairam Ramesh said Meanwhile, AAP leader Sushil Gupta said earlier today that the party would contest all the Lok Sabha seats in Haryana alone, which was a huge blow to the grand-old-party. The INDIA bloc is an alliance of 28 parties, formed to take on the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha polls. (ANI)
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