KCR on a meeting spree: Regional grouping, national politics on agenda

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao Saturday met former UP Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav amid attempts by regional parties to explore the possibilities of an alliance of non-BJP parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Yadav drove to KCR’s residence in New Delhi for the meeting after which a statement from Rao’s team said both leaders are discussing “national issues”.

"When two business people meet, they talk about business. When two political leaders meet, politics is discussed. What is the secret in it? There should be some sensation. The sensation will happen,” he said responding to questions about political discussions in his meeting with Yadav today.

The meeting comes ahead of the upcoming polls for President and Vice President during which the Opposition parties are likely to put up a joint challenge.

In the last week of April, KCR had met poll strategist Prashant Kishor.

Also read: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav meets Telangana CM; discusses issues concerning nation

On Sunday, Rao will be meeting Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kerjiwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann a day after he visited a Mohalla clinic and school run by the Delhi government.

On May 26, the Chief Minister will go to Bengaluru, where he will meet former Prime Minister and JDS leader H D Devegowda. He will also be visiting West Bengal and Bihar on May 29 and May 30 during which he is likely to meet Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee and Nitish Kumar besides leaders from RJD separately.

There is however no confirmation of his meeting with the Bihar Chief Minister, whose party JDU is an ally of NDA and is sharing a precarious relationship with the BJP.

The assertion of regional parties comes on the back of a recent row over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks at the Chintan Shivir in Udaipur last week when he said that Congress alone can fight the BJP as regional parties do not have a counter ideology and that only Congress has a centralised ideology and approach.

Regional parties including DMK, Shiv Sena and RJD with whom Congress in alliance in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Bihar, along with Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress had slammed Gandhi over the remarks. Gandhi later clarified in an interaction in London on Friday that he does not consider Congress the “big daddy”, respects the regional parties and will take them along in fight with the BJP.

Congress has been the main rival of TRS in Telangana while the BJP has off late been making strides. At its plenary in Hyderabad last month, TRS, which had in past often bailed out Modi government in Rajya Sabha during passage or key legislations, adopted a rather stringent approach slamming the Modi model of governance and presenting the TRS vision as an alternative model. Addressing the party’s foundation day last month, he also talked of the need to give an “alternative agenda” and downplayed the need for “political fronts”.

An interesting itinerary of Rao’s visit this week is his trip to Ralegan Siddi on May 27, where he will meet noted social activist Anna Hazare, whose Ramlila ground anti-corruption movement was a key factor behind the exit of UPA from power in 2014.

A statement by the KCR team said he will embark on an India tour to attend national level political and social programmes and as part of the visit, the chief minister will meet political , media and economic experts.