Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s two-day stay in Chennai, ostensibly extended to the second day in order to accommodate meetings with potential allies.
With Mr. Rao staying on in Chennai after meeting DMK leaders M. Karunanidhi and M.K. Stalin on Sunday, there were speculations that he would meet actors Kamal Haasan, who has recently launched a new political party, and Rajinikanth, who is set to launch one. However, no such meeting happened and Mr. Rao left Chennai for Hyderabad at 4.00 p.m. There were also reports of Mr. Rao meeting a few retired bureaucrats from the all-India services to gather feedback and suggestions on the federal front. This did not materialise either.
However, Mr Rao met a few prominent Telugu citizens of Chennai and a few industrialists showing interest in investing in his state.
He wound up his visit to Chennai on Monday when he took his chartered flight back to Hyderabad in the afternoon.
Prominent industry leaders who met the Telangana CM were Ravi Channa Reddy, chairman of Sri City and Varaprasad Reddy of Arvind Pharma. A delegation of executives of the Ramky Group of Hyderabad, who are contracted to work for the Chennai Corporation, also met the CM. Besides the industrialists, a number of well-wishers met him at his hotel.
The CM spent time with Kanimozhi who "complimented and congratulated Mr. Rao for his efforts. She said regional parties should be more united and work together for the development of nation and states," according to a release from the CM's office. She also told him that she would visit Hyderabad soon to study the Kaleshwaram irrigation project and Mission Bhagiradha drinking water project.
In the course of his political visit to the state, the TRS chief also took time off to visit the Kapaliswarar temple in Mylapore on Sunday evening.
On the Kanimozhi-Mr. Rao meeting, a press release from the Chief Minister's Office said, “KCR told her that only when the regional parties are strong enough can the federal spirit sustain itself. The CM said in the 2019 elections, all the regional parties put together will win more votes than the BJP and Congress, and expressed the hope that regional parties will play a key role in national politics.”
