At a time when the regional parties across the country are looking at an anti-Modi front with or without the Congress, one name is not at all being heard. Normally, it is hard to ignore this personality in any political configuration. The leader in question is Chandrababu Naidu.

But, Chandrababu is missing In Mamta Banerjee’s national expansion plans or even in Prashant Kishore-led anti-Modi front. Chandrababu too is said to be uninterested in these configurations. But time was when he literally led the plans to form political fronts. Chandrababu played an instrumental role in making Deve Gowda and IK Gujral prime ministers. He was also key to the Vajpayee government as the convener of the NDA.

Even in case of 2019 elections, he talked of third front and held parleys with regional satraps like Mamta Banerjee, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Pawar and Mayawati. He even talked of forming a regional pressure group ahead of the 2019 elections. But, all these calculations went awry when he failed to come back to power in Andhra Pradesh. Besides losing power in the state, he now has just three Lok Sabha MPs and one Rajya Sabha MP in his kitty. Such low numbers can never be effective bargaining chips.

But sources close to Chandrababu claim that Chandrababu does not want to antagonize Modi at this stage. Hence, he is adopting a neutral stand. More than that, his first priority is to come back to power in 2024. Chandrababu realizes that protecting his citadel in AP is more important that playing a key role at the Centre at this stage. Hence he is said to have negatived proposals from some regional leaders to join the ‘third front.’ He feels that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Clever politics indeed.