West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hijacked KCR Front: TRS

Hyderabad: The TRS leadership is peeved that West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee has “hijacked” the Federal Front proposed by TRS chief and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Mr Rao, it now seems, is not keen to be part of the Federal Front, especially if the Congress is part of it.

Ms Banerjee will visit New Delhi on July 31 to invite non-BJP leaders to the rally scheduled in Kolkata to launch the Federal Front in January.

She is expected to extend an invitation to Mr Rao through TRS MPs K. Keshava Rao and A P. Jitender Reddy.

Mr Rao skipped the swearing-in ceremony of H.D. Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister in Bengaluru to avoid sharing the dais with the Congress, and wants to follow the same policy in the case of the Federal Front.

Mr Rao had called for a Federal Front in March and envisaged it as excluding both national parties, the BJP and the Congress.

He visited several states to get their support, starting in Kolkata where he had a meeting with Ms Banerjee. She, however, was non-committal about KCR’s Front which didn't include the Congress.

Ms Banerjee has now decided to meet all non-BJP leaders in Delhi on July 31, when Parliament will still be in session, to seek support for her front and invite them for the launch.

TRS party sources said it is “totally unacceptable” for the TRS to give the Congress a role in the Front. “TRS cannot share a front with the Congress, which is its main opposition in Telangana. For this reason, KCR cannot support or attend the launch of Mamata’s front if Congress is part of it.”