Intensifying efforts to strengthen the broad coalition of opposition parties to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, who met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party. NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday called for a “major change” in the way the BJP-led Center is running the country in Mumbai.
Mr Rao, who is the president of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) – the dominant party in the southern Indian state of Telangana – met Mr Thackeray at the latter’s official residence ‘Varsha’ over lunch during his day-long visit.
“I am very happy to have a meeting with Uddhav Thackeray…we talked at length on many issues and agreed on almost all points…we discussed the need to accelerate the progress of the country, bring change, increase development and bring Spoken. Structural changes in policies… Big changes are needed in the way the country is run today. We will also talk to other regional parties in the days to come. We want to fight against injustice, we Fighting for democracy. Today is a new beginning,” Mr Rao said while talking to reporters after a two-hour meeting with Mr Thackeray, in which Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut was also present.
“We are like brothers,” the Telangana chief minister said of his Maharashtra counterpart. He said that the country today needs the inspiration of Marathi warriors like Chhatrapati Shivaji and (late Shiv Sena founder) Bal Thackeray.
Speaking on the need for continued cooperation between Telangana and Maharashtra in the future, Mr Rao said: “Our states share a 1,000 km long border. With the support of the Maharashtra government, we could complete the excellent Kaleshwaram. [lift irrigation] The project that opened the fortunes of Telangana… We want to maintain this friendship with Maharashtra in future as there are many things on which both the states have to cooperate.”
The Telangana Chief Minister condemned the manner in which the agencies were misused by the BJP government at the Centre. “The way the Center is abusing the central agencies is highly condemnable… it should change its behaviour,” Mr Rao said.
Mr Rao, who extended an invitation to Mr Thackeray to visit Hyderabad soon, said that in the coming days, all opposition party leaders would meet in Hyderabad or some other place to decide the “way forward”.
Mr Thackeray took a veiled jibe against the BJP, saying there was nothing “hidden” about today’s meeting with Mr Rao and added that “vendetta politics” was not the Shiv Sena’s brand of Hindutva.
Later, Mr Rao met NCP chief Sharad Pawar, whose party shares power with Mr Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and Congress in the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, at his residence ‘Silver Oak’, where both The leaders talked for about 90 minutes.
Praising Mr Pawar, Mr Rao said the veteran politician had been supporting the statehood issue for Telangana since the beginning of that movement in 1969.
“I am extremely grateful for Mr. Pawar’s continued support for the state of Telangana. He has been the youngest Chief Minister of the country and he is one of the most senior leaders of the country today. We spoke at length on several issues, mainly this But why is the country not progressing the way it should after 75 years of independence, the Chief Minister of Telangana said after meeting the NCP supremo.
Mr Rao said there was a proposal that a meeting of all opposition leaders could be held in Baramati – the Pawar family stronghold in Pune district – or at some other place.
“Soon there will be a meeting of leaders of similar wavelengths. After that we will present an agenda, a timetable before the public,” said the Telangana Chief Minister.
Mr Pawar said his meeting with Mr Rao was “different” in the sense that talks should be held to try to tackle the problems facing the country today.
“We talked today on many problems in the country ranging from unemployment to farmer issues to rising poverty. Telangana has shown the country the way forward. We talked about trying to create an environment for development in the country in future,” Mr Pawar said.
In December 2021, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee made a similar visit to Mumbai with the aim of trying to forge an alliance against the BJP.
At that time, Ms. Banerjee had met Mr. Pawar and Shiv Sena leaders such as Mr. Aaditya Thackeray and Mr. Raut because Mr. Thackeray was unwell. However, no love was lost between the TMC and the Congress (a partner in the MVA alliance), and the perception that the TMC wanted to form an anti-BJP alliance without the Congress, the outcome of the meeting was poor.
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