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Naidu confident of emergence of ‘Federal Front’

statesman news service HYDERABAD, 13 JUNE: TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu (file photo) today once again voiced his confidence about…

statesman news service
HYDERABAD, 13 JUNE: TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu (file photo) today once again voiced his confidence about the emergence of a ‘Federal Front’, but this time largely to pre-empt any demand in the party that the TDP sail with the BJP in the 2014 elections.
“It is only a matter of time in the sense that the front, by whichever name you call it, would emerge either as a result of a pre-poll alliance or a post-poll one,” he told reporters.
Mr Naidu has been looking at a non-Congress and non-BJP front pretty keenly in the recent past. Ever since it was clear that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be the BJP&’s prime ministerial candidate, a chunk in the party prefer the TDP to go with the BJP as the latter is expected to gain considerably in Andhra Pradesh due to the “Modi factor”.
Their argument is that the minorities continue to be ill disposed to the TDP and so is the secular voter. “In this scenario it would be a win-win situation for the TDP and the BJP to ally rather than tread the time tested and pretty weak path with the Left,” a senior leader told The Statesman.
It is this kind of intra-party talk that Mr Naidu wants to stifle. He still does not want to distance the minorities irrespective of the percentage who favour him. And the past experience has shown that the BJP is a far tougher customer than any ally in the Third Front.
Significantly, Mr Naidu claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is in touch with him. Sources, however, emphatically said neither Ms Banerjee nor Mr Naidu have spoken to each other regarding this in the recent past.
Mr Naidu also claimed that he is in touch with all the important leaders who want to be part of this formation. “As and when it is formed you will get to know about it, and also about who will play a role in its formation,”
he said.

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