Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s back to back meetings with Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi had once again fanned speculation of possible alliance talks between the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Bharatiya Janata Party. This was Rao’s second visit to the National Capital in a month.
Rao, popularly known as KCR, was supposed to return to Hyderabad on Sunday after a 3-day visit to the capital to mainly attend Home Minister Amit Shah’s review meeting on the left-wing extremism with 10 Naxal-affected States, but he extended his trip by a day to reach out to Shah as many times as possible.
Sources told CNN-News18 that KCR met with Shah thrice in four days. Apart from the meeting which took place at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, on Sunday evening, KCR reportedly had a closed-door meeting with Shah at the latter’s residence at Krishna Menon Marg in New Delhi. The following day, he once again called on Shah at his office in North Block. Sources further say the last meeting was also attended by some officials and a few TRS representatives.
Interestingly, there has been no official word from the Chief Minister’s Office regarding the meetings between KCR and Shah. The last official update shared by the CMO was regarding KCR’s second meeting with Union Minister Piyush Goyal which took place on Monday. In that meeting, KCR reportedly urged Goyal to procure more paddy from the State and even consider the option of exporting it to other countries. Apart from Shah and Goyal, KCR also met with Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on September 25 to raise the water dispute with Andhra Pradesh.
Back in Hyderabad, KCR’s extended trips to New Delhi has raised eyebrows even within the TRS. During his first visit to the Capital earlier this month, KCR stayed in Delhi for nine days wherein which he also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“KCR is a master strategist, no one knows what is going on in his mind as he keeps his card close to his chest. There is a lot of speculation over an alliance between BJP and TRS but that’s far-fetched. We are unbeatable in Telangana. We also have a strong representation in Parliament. We have always extended issue-based support to Centre and we will continue to do that,” a senior TRS leader said, requesting anonymity.
While the Telangana Congress President Revanth Reddy continues to label TRS and BJP “two sides of the same coin”, a senior BJP leader from Telangana told News18 that KCR’s meetings with Union ministers in Delhi revolved around “generic discussions about the State which were raised last time”.
“BJP is a strong player in Telangana, we don’t need allies. Bandi Sanjay’s Padayatra (walkathon) is already making an impact in the State. KCR is afraid of us and that’s why he is rushing to New Delhi to save his family,” another senior leader told News18.
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