KCR's Federal Front: Telangana CM meets Mamata Banerjee yet again

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is on a whirlwind visit, trying to band the regional party leaders and form the Federal Front ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, visited West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday. Addressing the media after the meeting with Mamata Banerjee, KCR said that they discussed a "matter of mutual interest" and "national politics”. He added, “Our dialogue will continue and shortly, we will come with a concrete plan." added KCR.

The Telangana CM was meeting Mamta Banerjee for the second time. He had met her a few months ago to discuss Federal Front, which, KCR said, “is a unification of forces across the nation". The CM, who was recently elected back to power with an overwhelming majority of 88 seats from the 119 constituencies in the state, even met Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Sunday, as part of his non-BJP and non-Congress coalition plans. He had said that there would be a new political formation, which would emerge as an alternative for both the BJP and the Congress, with a national agenda that would fulfil the aspirations of the people of the country.

“We have a responsibility to make our presence felt in national politics. The intellect of Telangana must be used for the good of India. We are going to play a crucial role in national politics. We are going to show and give a new definition to the national political situation. There is confusion at the national political level and this needs to change. Unless it changes, the country will not grow,” he had said earlier after winning the Telangana elections comfortably.

On Sunday, KCR, along with his family members, flew to Visakhapatnam and offered their prayers at Sharada Peetham and also performed special prayers at Rajasyamala Temple. He then proceeded to Bhubaneshwar and had a meeting with Navin Patnaik.

After a halt in the Odisha capital, he visited the Konark Temple and Jagannadha Temple and then left to Kolkata.

After winning the Assembly elections, KCR had said that he would intensify his effort to build a consortium of regional parties, not aimed at the elections.

According to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office on Friday, KCR’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has engaged a special flight for the entire month. Following the meeting with Mamata Banerjee, the Telangana Chief Minister visited Kali Mata Temple in Kolkata.

He will then leave for New Delhi and will stay for two-three days, according to Telangana CMO.

KCR will also meet former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav. Additionally, KCR will also make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and have meetings with some central ministers to reportedly discuss state-related issues.

With IANS inputs