Hyderabad: Telugu Chief Ministers K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy are vying to get an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the first week of this month, both CMs were to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister but neither succeeded in doing so.
Mr Rao was in Delhi on December 3 to attend the marriage reception of Power Finance Corporation chairman Rajeev Sharma’s son and decided to stay on for another three days in the hope of getting an appointment with the PM. The Prime Minister’s Office said that Mr Modi was busy with Cabinet meetings. Mr Rao was besieged with questions by the national media on the Disha issue which upset him and he returned to Hyderabad on the same day.
Two days later, Mr Reddy flew to Delhi to meet Mr Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.
He wanted to discuss the special status issue and some financial matters, but he returned suddenly due to the death of his personal assistant.
In the last eight months since Mr Modi won a mandate for the second time, Mr Reddy has met him thrice and Mr Rao once. In the previous term of the NDA government, Mr Rao met the Mr Modi more often that his AP counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu, even though the Telugu Desam was a partner in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government.
At one stage, Mr Naidu had to wait for one year to get an appointment with Mr Modi, after his party broke away from the NDA.
