Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has reached out to Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on the presidential election.
On Saturday, Rao met Kejriwal in Delhi and also visited schools and mohalla clinics with him. Rao also met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Delhi.
While the most immediate reason for Rao meeting the CMs is his promise of giving Rs 3 lakh each to 738 farmers who lost their lives during the protests against the farm legislations, he is also expected to discuss the forthcoming elections and forging a non-Congress and non-BJP front in the presidential election.
Rao will hold a second meeting with Janata Dal (Secular) president and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in Bengaluru on May 26. Earlier, in the run-up to the 2019 general election, he had sought Gowda’s support to forge a non-BJP third front. More recently, in February this year, Gowda had dialled Rao and congratulated him for taking the BJP and communal forces head-on.
After visiting Gowda, Rao will meet West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on May 28. Both Rao and Banerjee had initiated the idea of a federal front in Kolkata in March 2018, a year before the April-May 2019 parliamentary election. A United India rally was organised by Banerjee in Kolkata’s Parade Ground in January 2019. It was attended by all major opposition parties. However, there was no formal alliance in the parliamentary election four months later. According to Rao’s aides, the CM will discuss presidential polls and fielding a common candidate. “There is no question of Congress coming into this alliance. We will field a common candidate. If Congress wants, it can support that candidate,” said a senior TRS functionary, who did not wish to be identified.
After a stopover in Kolkata, Rao will meet Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and leader of opposition in Bihar assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, in Patna at the end of this month. Rao has also opened backchannel talks with BJD president and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, who has been giving issue-based support to the BJP government at the Centre. Rao is aware that for the opposition camp to make a strong political statement through the presidential election, it will need Patnaik’s support.
