Bhubaneswar.Dec. 23: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao met Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik at the latter’s residence (Naveen Niwas) here this evening to hold talks on forming a ‘Federal Front’ for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to media persons soon after the meeting, Patnaik said, “We discussed matters of national interest. We will take the talks forward. We also discussed the Polavaram issue and women’s reservation in Parliament.”
“We discussed several things including friendship of like-minded parties. We’ve not thought that (Parliament elections) far. He (KCR) came to Odisha to offer thanks to Lord Jagannath for his tremendous victory,” Patnaik added.
In his media reactions, The Telangana CM said: “We need to talk to more people across the nation. There’s a dire need for the unification of regional parties as there’s a strong need for an alternative to Congress and BJP.”
The country needs a change for which dialogue has begun, we’re doing our part but nothing concrete has emerged. We’ve just begun the dialogue; we will meet again to discuss how to take things forward,” KCR added.
According to reports, the Telangana CM along with this family will visit the Sun Temple in Konark and Srimandir in Puri and return to Bhubaneswar tomorrow.
Later, on Monday, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief will call on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata. After a meeting with Banerjee, KCR will visit Kalimata Temple and leave for New Delhi.
The Telangana CM will also have separate meetings with former Uttar Pradesh chief ministers Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav. KCR will also make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will have meetings with some central ministers to discuss state-related issues.
According to a statement from the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office, the TRS has engaged a special flight for one month.
Before meeting Patnaik, KCR visited Vishakapatnam to meet Visakha Sarada Peetham Sri Swaroopanandendra Saraswati Maharshi to seek his blessings who helped the chief minister in performing Raja Shyamala Yagam during elections.
KCR’s game plan is to form a non-Congress and non-BJP national level front but rivals accuse him of trying to divide anti-BJP vote under the pretext of this third front.
After getting a massive victory in early elections, KCR is in an upbeat mood and he is intensifying his efforts with a focus on the parliamentary elections in April-May 2019.
Prasanta Patnaik