KCR to campaign for JD(S) in Karnataka

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday invited the JD(S) to be a part of the Third Front to take on national parties in the 2019 Parliamentary elections.

Rao has also offered to campaign for the party in the upcoming elections. This has provided the JD(S), which has readily accepted Rao's proposal, a shot in the arm.

Rao called on JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and party state president H D Kumaraswamy at the former prime minister's residence in Padmanabhanagar in the city. He was accompanied by two Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs and multi-lingual actor Prakash Raj. Rao held a detailed meeting with the JD(S) leadership. The meeting was followed by a lunch hosted by Gowda.

He also watched videos of Kumaraswamy's 'Vikasa Parva' election campaigns.

Later, speaking to the media, Rao appealed to the Telugu-speaking people of Karnataka to support the regional party in the polls. He said he would campaign for the JD(S) in key constituencies, including those in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

The TRS chief said the formation of a new front of non-BJP and non-Congress parties had become imperative. He accused both national parties of failing to resolve inter-state water disputes. He said the Third Front would ensure sufficient water for all states, including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Rao has already met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as part of the formal talks to float the front as an alternative to the national parties.

Rao said he had invited Raj, whom he termed the 'son of the soil', to join him in his discussion with the JD(S) leadership. The actor, who is a bitter critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had recently called on the chief minister in Telangana.

The actor maintained that he would not take a plunge into active politics. But he would, however, support the Third Front.