Day After Meeting Patnaik, KCR Visits Mamata Amid Efforts to Cobble Together Federal Front

Telangana Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrashekar Rao met his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Monday amid efforts to cobble up a federal front, a day after he met Naveen Patnaik.

Banerjee was one of the first opposition leaders Rao met when he had proposed the idea of an ‘alternative front’. Both the leaders had then said the country was “ready for a change" and spoken about carrying forward the federal front.

In his meeting with Patnaik, KCR had emphasised on a "dire need" for unification of regional parties to provide an alternative to the Congress and the BJP ahead of the 2019 general elections. "I can say certainly that there is a dire need for unification of regional parties in the country. We strongly believe that there has to be an alternative to the Congress and the BJP," Rao told reporters after the meeting.

Both the chief ministers had a detailed discussion on national issues, including the need for "better friendship among regional parties," Patnaik said. "This is just the beginning of a dialogue... We will meet again and discuss how to take things forward," Rao said.

After his meeting with Banerjee, the Telangana Chief Minister will visit Kalimata Temple. Subsequently, he will leave for New Delhi, where he will have separate meetings with former Uttar Pradesh chief ministers Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav.

During his two-three day stay in the national capital, the TRS chief will make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will have meetings with some central ministers and discuss state related issues.

After a thumping victory in the state in recent snap elections, KCR had said that his focus would be on forging a ‘federal front’ at the national level. KCR had also appointed his son KT Rama Rao as the party’s working president to devote more time to national politics. This is the first time since the party’s establishment in 2001 that TRS has a working president. The move has also led to speculation that KTR may be the next to occupy the CM’s chair.