TRS Chief Chandrasekhar rao dump Third Front, joins NDA

TRS chief Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday declared his support for the BJP-led NDA and vowed to bring others to join it. “We will not only support NDA with an open heart but also rope in others to support it,” Rao told an NDA rally here, two months after he had joined Left and other leaders in launching the Third Front. The Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, which parted with the UPA in 2006 on the statehood issue of Telangana and fought the elections in alliance with the Left parties and TDP in Andhra Pradesh, also accused the Congress and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of “betraying” the people of Telangana.

The Third Front seems to be collapsing with the TRS move closer to NDA. TRS is displaying its admiration for the BJP policy on creating new states. But the TDP believes the partnership is still not over. Now, there are fears that fence-sitters like J Jayalalithaa and H D Deve Gowda will also consider walking out of the front. But the Left put up a brave front It is the first major realignment of the 2009 Lok Sabha election and in the next week many more such crossover and switching of loyalties are expected.