Naidu pushes for third front

The Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu has indicated that he would take the initiative in forging a third front as an alternative to Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA at the Centre.A Addressing the inaugural session of Mahanadu, a two-day annual conclave of the party on Monday, he said that the Telugu Desam Party, ever since it came into existence in the State, took initiative in forming three governments with regional parties at the Centre. The Telugu Desam Party as well as other like-minded regional parties would have a decisive role to play at the Centre after the elections in 2014, he said.

Declaring that the TDP's return to power was certain in the State, he said the party's victory would bring an end to the reign of scandal-ridden Congress government both in the State and at the Centre. He said that India would emerge as a super power along with China by 2030.

On the demand for separate Telangana state, he reiterated that there was no change in the party stand. Questioning the TRS leadership for the basis on which it had opted for seat sharing with the TDP in 2004, he pointed out that the TRS criticism directed against his party was rather deliberate. He wondered as to why the TRS, despite being part of the UPA in power at the Centre remain a silent spectator when the Maharashtra built the Bhabhali dam over Godavari at the cost of the interests of Telangana people.

Hitting back at TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao for targeting him and the TDP, Chandrababu said the former was interested only in "notes and votes". Regretting the TDP's electoral alliance with the TRS in 2009, he said his party could not come back to power only because of the alliance. "We gave 45 Assembly seats to TRS as a part of the alliance and it could win only 10. This proved very costly for us," he said.

TDP also adopted a resolution on Monday paying homage to those who committed suicide seeking a separate state. "Once we come to power, we will provide employment to the eligible kin of those who ended their lives (for the statehood cause)," Chandrababu announced.

Calling the Congress government in the State as a "train of thieves", the former Chief Minister said only the driver (CM) has changed but not the others onboard. "It was only because of the relentless pressure exerted by the TDP that two of the "tainted ministers were finally dropped from the Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet. But there are more tainted ministers in the Cabinet and we will fight uncompromisingly till we see their back," Chandrababu asserted and added that Kiran too was a culprit for having defended corruption of his predecessor Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Naidu alleged that Kiran's younger brother and some conduits were indulging in corruption on behalf of the Chief Minister."People in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have voted corrupt governments out and the same will happen even in the State. India will emerge as an economic super power only if corruption is rooted out and the youth of the country can make this a reality," he said. A The two-day Mahanadu is discussing a host of political issues besides people's problems ranging from price rise, farmers' plight, power crisis, law and order and corruption.