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KCR predicts emergence of new national party before 2024 Lok Sabha polls
Stating that there is a vacuum in national politics, Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday predicted the emergence of a new national party in the state in the coming years as a potential alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Stating that there is a vacuum in national politics, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday predicted the emergence of a new national party in the state in the coming years as a potential alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Speaking to reporters at Telangana Bhavan after an extended TRS legislature party meeting, KCR, as the chief minister is popularly called, said the people of the country were frustrated with the BJP and there was every need to drive the BJP away from the national politics, if the nation has to progress on all fronts.
“There is a huge vacuum in national politics. There is an urgent need to bring about a change in the country’s polity. That is why I am contemplating entering national politics. I strongly feel a new national party would emerge as an alternative to the BJP by 2024,” he said.
Accusing the BJP of playing divisive politics to rule the country, KCR found fault with the saffron party for using even Kashmiri pandits’ issue for its political gains. The latest “hungama over Kashmir Files” film was only to divert the people’s attention from crucial issues. It was ridiculous that the BJP-ruled states have given tax exemption to this film only to whip up communal passions, he said.
“We, too, have sympathy for Kashmiri pandits. What we should condemn is the way their issue is being exploited for political gains and dividing the people on communal lines. What did the BJP governments in the past do for Kashmiri pandits languishing in Delhi for years?” he asked.
He said the central government should do something for Kashmiri pandits, instead of mere sweet talk. “What the country needs now is not Kashmir Files. It needs to talk about the GDP files, agriculture files, tribal files, economic files, farmers’ files and development files,” he said.
The chief minister admitted that political strategist Prashant Kishor had been working for his party to work out strategies to bring about change in the national politics. “He has worked in 12 states and has tremendous knowledge about the country’s politics. I have known him for the last seven to eight years. What is wrong in taking his help in transforming the country’s politics?” he asked.
KCR alleged that the BJP government at the Centre was not caring even for Supreme Court judgments on the reservations issue. “Though the apex court said the 50 per cent cap on the reservations could be increased under special circumstances, the Centre has ignored it. The Telangana assembly passed a resolution asking for an increase in the quota of SCs and STs, but the Centre did not respond to it,” he regretted.
The TRS legislature party which met in the morning had adopted a resolution demanding that the Centre procure paddy from the state during the Rabi season. The meeting also decided to step up agitation on paddy procurement from March 25.
The chief minister said a delegation of the Telangana ministers and MPs would go to New Delhi on Tuesday to bring pressure on the Centre for paddy procurement during the Rabi season. “This season, there will be paddy production in 35 lakh acres. Let the Centre decide how it would procure the rice. Our MPs will continue to put up a fight in Parliament, while the ministers would take up the issue with the Prime Minister and the union ministers concerned,” he said.
Stating that the TRS would intensify its fight against the Centre on the lines of the movement for separate Telangana state, KCR said if there was no response from the Centre, the agitation would be intensified and made action-oriented.
He demanded that there should be a national procurement policy for the Centre. “We are demanding that there should be Constitutional safeguards for the farmers, whether it is for procurement or Minimum Support Price,” he said.
