KCR plans tour to states to build front

Hyderabad: TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will tour several states later this month and in March to meet the chiefs of regional parties in his attempt to unite them against the BJP. The series will start with the meeting with Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on February 20.

Party sources said that the CM plans meet Trinamul Congress president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, and travel to Bengaluru to meet H.D. Deve Gowda, JDS founder and former prime minister.

The CM wants to invite them for the inaugural of the renovated Yadadri temple complex, to be held from March 21 to 28.

He will tour Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh after March 10, when the Assembly election results of five states will be out. Before that, the CM plans to hold the Budget Session of the Telangana Legislature in the first two weeks of March.

The CM is understood to be undecided on visiting Andhra Pradesh. Rao and AP CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had displayed unusual bonhomie, meeting over half a dozen times within six months until January 2020. There have been no meetings since, and the TRS’s attitude towards the YSRC has hardened over river water sharing disputes.

TRS sources said Jagan Mohan Reddy has not shown interest in Rao’s renewed efforts to unite regional parties, and continues to maintain cordial relations with the BJP.

The TRS does not have friendly relations with the Telugu Desam which is focused on retaining power in AP in 2024, and is not interested in national politics until then. TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has not reacted to Rao’s initiatives.

TRS circles expect Rao to ease his tough stance towards the TD as it is no more a major political force in Telangana state or a political threat to the TRS.