Stalin snubs KCR? DMK chief calls off ‘Federal Front’ meet citing campaign schedule

Just a day earlier, the DMK had confirmed that a meeting was set to take place between the two leaders on May 13.
Stalin snubs KCR? DMK chief calls off ‘Federal Front’ meet citing campaign schedule
Stalin snubs KCR? DMK chief calls off ‘Federal Front’ meet citing campaign schedule
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A day after the DMK confirmed a meeting between party chief MK Stalin and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the meet has been called off. Sources in the DMK had confirmed to TNM on Monday that a 'courtesy meeting' was set to take place between the two leaders on May 13. However, a day later sources close to DMK President MK Stalin confirmed that the meeting will not be taking place. According to reports, campaign commitments were cited as the reason for the cancellation.

A source close to KCR, however, neither confirmed nor denied that the meeting with Stalin had been called off, adding that there would be clarity once the Telangana CM returned from his Kerala trip. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief had planned the meeting as part of his outreach to leaders in the neighbouring southern states. With all five states having completed polling in the Lok Sabha Elections, KCR had revived his ambitions for a Federal Front: a coalition of non-BJP non-Congress parties at the Centre.

While the meeting does come in the midst of campaign season for the four pending bye-polls in Tamil Nadu, speculation is rife that the Dravidian party may have snubbed KCR over fears that the latter was the BJP's B team, a constant accusation of the Congress, DMK’s ally.

KCR has often been accused by the Congress of maintaining a close and strategically unannounced relationship with the BJP. Stalin, however, has been staunchly anti-BJP since he was elected party chief following the demise of his father and five-time Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. For the Lok Sabha polls and the 22 bye-elections in the state, the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu has allied with the Congress. The meeting could have also set the alarm bells ringing in the Congress months after Stalin had proposed Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate.

KCR had met both M Karunanidhi and MK Stalin in April 2018 when he made a visit to Chennai.

Meanwhile, Thol Thirumavalavan, the chief of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi(VCK) welcomed alliance partner DMK's move to not meet KCR, stating that the TRS chief's proposed Federal Front would only be beneficial to the BJP.

The Telangana Chief Minister had met Kerala CM and CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday night. While the two leaders were in a closed-door meeting for two hours, neither Pinarayi nor KCR addressed the press after the visit. However, in a press conference on Tuesday, the Kerala CM told reporters, “Yesterday's meeting with KCR was significant. We discussed the national political scenario. According to KCR, both the fronts may not get a majority. So, the regional parties will play a prominent role. There were no discussions about the PM candidate.”

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