KCR meets Mamata Banerjee to discuss non-BJP, non-Congress 'federal front'

Rao had recently said a non-Congress and non-BJP front should be formed in the country, as he called for a "qualitative change" in politics

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao's idea of creating a federal front with non-BJP and non-Congress political parties at the national level has received a hint of positive response with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee terming their meeting in Kolkata on Monday as a good beginning.

"We have relations with many political parties and if we can do something together, it is good for the country" Banerjee said at a joint press conference after an hour-long meeting with KCR, who flew to Kolkata in a special flight to discuss the formation of federal front with her earlier in the day.

Rao said the idea behind federal front was to provide an alternate political model for the country and they would discuss with other leaders to forge a non-BJP and non-Congress alliance under a collective leadership in the days to come.

Rao-Banerjee meeting comes as a first concrete step towards bringing together like-minded leaders and parties in various states. Earlier, Rao had spoken with some of the other leaders over phone. He is expected to make similar visits to other states to meet other leaders, including Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, according to his party men.

Preparations are also on to formally declare the formation of a federal front at Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS) plenary meeting on April 27. Rao will be personally inviting the potential federal front partners at this event.