Express News Service
MUMBAI: Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrashekar Rao, who is trying to form a national coalition of likeminded parties to fight the BJP in the 2024 elections, on Sunday met his Maharashtra counterpart and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.
K Chandrashekar Rao with UddhavThackeray in Mumbai | PTI During the meetings, held separately at the hosts’ residences, the need to defeat the BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections was discussed. Terming the meeting with Thackeray “a good beginning”, the Telangana leader said: “We are talking with other states leaders as well and very soon, there will be clarity over this new beginning.”
Explaining the reason for seeking and end to BJP rule, Rao said, “The present political atmosphere is not good. There needs to have speed in development. People are weakening the country rather than strengthening it. Central agencies are misused.”
Agreeing with KCR and targeting the BJP, Thackeray said the country desperately needs a change, adding that the ongoing “politics of revenge” is neither Hindutva nor Indian culture. The Shiv Sena leader said the country will soon witness a new political culture, anchored in harmony.
“There will be a new beginning in the country’s politics. It is a difficult way, but we have to put effort into finding this new path,” he said.
However, NCP chief Sharad Pawar sought to distance himself from the new political front, claiming politics was not discussed during his meeting with KCR. “We discussed only development issues. The country is facing several major issues like unemployment, growing poverty, farmer suicides, etc.”
While Rao and Thackeray agreed the need to bring a change, Pawar stressed the need for all like-minded parties to join hands to resolve various issues like unemployment and the agrarian crisis and said they will meet again.
Though neither Rao, who heads the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), nor Uddhav or Pawar spoke about a third front in clear terms, the Congress welcomed Rao’s efforts to forge an anti-BJP front but also cautioned that such bloc cannot be formed excluding the Grand Old Party.
Rao, who travelled to Mumbai on the invitation of Thackeray, said that he and the Maharashtra CM have agreed that change is the need of the hour.
The meeting between Rao and Thackeray, held at the latter’s official bungalow ‘Varsha’, lasted for neasrly two hours.
Rao then travelled to Pawar’s residence in south Mumbai where he held a political discussion with the veteran leader on how to take the country forward after 75 years of independence.
On his part, Pawar stressed the need for all like-minded parties to join hands to resolve various issues like hunger, poverty, unemployment and the agrarian crisis facing the country.
The NCP chief told reporters that Telangana had taken good steps for the welfare of farmers which were a model for the rest of the country.
“We discussed the political situation, development issues being faced by the country after 75 years of independence, ” the TRS chief said after meeting Pawar.
Rao said Thackeray and he agreed that a change was needed in the country.
“All should co-exist in harmony,” he said.
“We will meet again after speaking to other regional and national parties on the road ahead. The path taken from Maharashtra always leads to success. This is a a good beginning and it is a fight for preserving the democracy,” he said.
The TRS chief said he has invited Thackeray to Hyderabad.
“Telangana and Maharashtra share a 1,000-km border. We need to have friendly relations with each other for the development of both states and the country. I and the Maharashtra chief minister have agreed on issues pertaining to development and the need for structural changes in the country,” the Telangana CM told reporters.
Thackeray, in a veiled attack on the BJP, said the present day “politics of revenge” was neither Hindutva nor Indian culture, and that the situation needed to change.
What is the country’s future if such an atmosphere continues, he said, adding that his discussion with Rao revolved around these issues.
“The politics of revenge is not good. Instead of speaking on development issues during their tenure, lies and misinformation are spread about the political opponents,” he said, without taking any name.
Those present in the meeting included Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and other leaders.
Uddhav Thackeray’s younger son Tejas Thackeray was also seen in pictures released by the Chief Minister’s Office.
Actor Prakash Raj was also among the prominent faces accompanying Rao.
Addressing reporters at his south Mumbai residence with Rao, Pawar said, “Our focus is only on development, development and development. We will meet again”.
“Pawar had been supporting the movement for the creation of a separate Telangana state since 1969. I was here to have a political discussion with Sharad Pawar and how to take the country forward after 75 years of independence. We also discussed the need to bring the changes that are required but have not been done so far,” said Rao.
He also said the experience of Pawar as the senior-most leader in the country is valuable and it counts.
“Such meetings will continue. All leaders would meet again, he added. The Congress said though Rao’s efforts to forge an anti-BJP front are welcome but cautioned that such an initiative by regional parties cannot be successful without the Grand Old Party which is the “only alternative” to the ruling BJP.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole claimed that the TRS had earlier taken a stand in Parliament which was “beneficial” to BJP but now its views about BJP have changed.
“We welcome this change of heart,” he told reporters.
Speaking in Pune, Union minister Ramdas Athawale asserted that even if Shiv Sena, TRS and other parties come together to form a third front at the national level, there is no threat to the NDA as people are happy under the Narendra Modi-led government.
(With PTI Inputs)
