Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu announced on Sunday that he would strive for the formation of a Third Front of non-Congress and non-Bharatiya Janata Party allies at the Centre soon.
A third front along the lines of the National Front and United Front was the need of the hour since both the Congress and the BJP parties have failed to deliver the goods and fulfil the aspirations of the people, he said during his hour-long winding up address on the concluding day of the three-day Mahanadu or annual general body meeting of the Telugu Desam Party at Telugu Vijayam at Gandipet.
“The Congress is steeped in scams and has weakened considerably. It will be wiped out soon. It has lost power with allies in Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, where non-Congress governments have come to power. The BJP has not been able to shed its communal colouring, leaving a third front as the only option,” he said.
The Congress, he said, has created problems, but is unable to solve them. The TDP, on the other hand, is a “historical necessity”. He said, “The party had grown under the leadership of NTR and has become a force to reckon with. Several parties are trying to destroy it, but they could not and they cannot.”
He said if put together “the `73 lakh crores black money in foreign banks, `1.76 lakh crores misappropriations in 2G scam and the looting of `1 lakh crores by YSR and his family (it) is enough to end poverty in the country.” Harping on the Telangana issue, he reiterated that the onus was on the central government to take a decision. The ruling UPA government must end the stalemate over Telangana and if it cannot take a decision soon, it should tender an apology to the people.
Thanking party leaders and cadres for reposing confidence in the party and himself, Mr Naidu promised to rejuvenate the TDP in the next six months, with one major programme every month for one year.
Getting into issues, he said he would promote the party’s idea of a cash transfer scheme to weed out corruption.