Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 20: As part of their move to form a front of the opposition parties, excluding the Congress, to take on the BJP in the 2024 Parliamentary elections, the Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held a luncheon meeting with his Maharashtra counterpart and the Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Sunday.
Rao, who was in Mumbai at Thackeray’s invitation, met his Maharashtra counterpart at the latter’s official residence “Varsha” bungalow to discuss the modalities for the formation of the non-Congress front against the BJP. He is scheduled to meet the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, the architect of the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi ministry in Maharashtra, in the evening before returning to Hyderabad.
KCR, as the Telangana chief minister is fondly called, described Thackeray as his “brother” and said the two had very useful discussions. “I came to Maharashtra to discuss politics and pace of development in the country after 75 years of independence. It was great to meet Uddhav ji, we are like brothers. Many issues were discussed… There are many other people in the country who think alike and we talking to them too. We will sit in Hyderabad or somewhere else in a few days and discuss more,” KCR said after the meeting.
Thackeray said, “The situation prevailing in the country and the way low level politics is happening is not Hindutva… If this continues, what is the future of the country? Anyone can become Chief Minister or Prime Minister, but we held a meeting about the future of the country.”
After a sudden turnaround following the current year’s budget, Rao, till recently an issue-based strategic partner of the BJP, has intensified his efforts to campaign for the formation of anti-BJP opposition front ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. KCR has been at loggerheads with the saffron party, which started after his post Budget 2022 remarks wherein he slammed both the BJP and the Congress, saying India needs a new movement – breaking away from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the grand old party. He also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he dresses according to the poll-bound states.
Earlier this month when Modi visited Hyderabad, KCR’s absence from the event and also at the airport to receive the former, added fuel to the controversy. However, KCR’s office released a statement later citing his fever as the reason for staying away from the prime minister’s functions. The statement had also claimed that the chief minister was not bound by the protocol to receive the prime minister. The Prime Minister, however, called Rao to wish him on his birthday on February 17.
Last week, Thackeray had a conversation with KCR in which he was claimed to had “extended support” to the Telangana chief minister in his efforts to unite regional parties to lead a third front against the BJP-led central government, and invited him to Mumbai. “This is in line with what Uddhav ji has been saying in the overreach of the Centre. States have to come together to defend the federal structure of the country,” a senior Shiv Sena functionary had said.
Notably, earlier in the day, when the Telangana CM landed in the financial capital, Mumbai was decorated with the posters “Welcome KCR.” KCR’s efforts to unite the regional parties, follows that of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, who registered a landslide victory in the eastern state, and shattered the saffron camp’s dream to form a government in West Bengal, has been urging cooperation among opposition parties to dethrone the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She had come to Mumbai last year to meet Pawar. KCR has already received support for the third front from Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK chief MK Stalin, and is expected to reach out to Mamata as well.
Visuals showed Thackeray seated in the garden with Rao. The Shiv Sena chief’s younger son Tejas Thackeray is also seen. A video clip shows Thackeray greeting the Telangana Rashtra Samithi leaders accompanying Rao. Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut is also seen in the clip. Actor-politician Prakash Raj, known for his anti-BJP stand, was also seen at the meeting.
His office has said Rao was invited by Thackeray for lunch at his home. It said Thackeray called him last week and invited him to Mumbai and announced “complete support” to his “fight” against the BJP’s “anti-people policies.” Thackeray had pointed out that Rao has “raised his voice at the right time to protect the nation from divisive forces,” the Telangana Chief Minister’s office said.
Besides Prakash Raj, Rao was accompanied by his daughter and Member of Legislative Council K Kavitha and party MPs J Santosh Kumar, Ranjith Reddy and BB Patil on his Mumbai visit. Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on Sunday said the meeting between Thackeray and Rao would expedite the process of political unity at the national level against the BJP.
Rao has consistently alleged that under the BJP-led government at the centre, cooperative federalism was being violated. The main focus of Sunday’s meeting was on preparing strategies to work together for protecting the interests of states, the Sena sources said. The Telangana Chief Minister has also said there was a need for a debate on a new Constitution to safeguard the jurisdiction and powers of the states.
Rao also plans to meet Janata Dal (Secular) president and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in Bengaluru sometime later. Mamata Banerjee has also said she would come to Hyderabad soon to meet Rao, who is keen on hosting a meeting of leaders of regional parties. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M K Stalin had recently tweeted plans about such a meeting in Delhi of Chief Ministers of Opposition-ruled states following his recent talks with Banerjee.
