Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Wednesday met his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar who quit the NDA to form government with RJD-Congress alliance earlier this month. Rao has met several Opposition leaders in the past in a bid to form a united front against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader also met former chief minister Lalu Yadav and Bihar Deputy CM and RJD scion Tejashwi Yadav in Patna.
Addressing a press conference in Patna, Rao said that Kumar agreed that the BJP government at the Centre has to be ousted and accused the ruling party of hatching a conspiracy to divide India.
“Talked to my elder brother Nitish ji. It was agreed that the BJP government has to be thrown out of power by any means. The country is getting lost in every sector. There is no development in any sector. Rupee never fell so much against the dollar. Capitalists are running away from the type of policy made today. The country has suffered due to the failure of the central government. The federal system is being dismantled by making a few different systems. There is no development at all, only slogans are being raised. A conspiracy is being hatched to divide the country. BJP is trying to weaken India in the name of religion. Where is Make in India? Even tricolor is also coming from China,” he said.
Upping the ante further against the BJP, the TRS chief talked about “BJP-mukt Bharat” (BJP-free India) and said the leader from the Opposition who would challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be decided later.
“Nitish ji’s thinks that all the opposition parties have to unite and make a BJP-free India. BJP Mukt Bharat will only lead to a united and developed India. BJP is disrespecting National flag and Mahatma Gandhi. They are following the same policies which they were opposing when not in power. They are promoting only privatisation. They are selling everything. We know BJP is the richest party. It spends the most on advertisements. Central government’s new slogan is ‘Becho India’. Central government scares the opposition. We are united against the NDA, who will be the leader, it will be decided later. We will choose one leader after the meeting,” he added. However, the TRS leader refused to divulge information about when the meeting will take place.
When asked about Nitish’s PM aspirations, Rao said, “Nitish Kumar is a big leader of the country. We will tell you the PM face once meeting is done.”
This will be KCR’s first visit to Bihar since becoming chief minister of Telangana in 2014. KCR has recently given a call for “BJP-mukt Bharat” ahead of the 2024 polls on the lines of “RSS-mukt Bharat” call given by Kumar.
Rao met the families of the Indian soldiers martyred in the Galvan Valley along with the Bihar Chief Minister. He handed over the cheques for Rs 10 lakhs to each family of martyred soldiers on behalf of the Telangana government. He also extended support of Rs 5 lakhs each to families of 12 Bihar workers who died in the fire mishap in a timber depot in Secunderabad in March 2022.
Patna, Bihar | Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao along with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar & Dy CM Tejashwi Yadav provides financial assistance to the families of Indian soldiers who lost their lives in Galwan valley &to the families of 12 Bihar workers who died in a fire accident recently pic.twitter.com/P3CYpEOy8L— ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2022
Taking a dig at the meeting between two chief ministers, BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said it is a “get-together of two daydreamers” who have no standing in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He dubbed the meeting as the “latest comedy show of opposition unity”.
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Neeraj Kumar, an MLC and chief spokesperson of JD(U) had earlier said that the meeting between Rao and Kumar will be a “unity between the south and the north” for defeating the BJP.
“KCR is undoubtedly a prominent leader of the south and a key voice against the BJP. In Nitish Kumar, the opposition is seeing new hope. The meeting between the two leaders is bound to have national repercussions,” he added, according to news agency PTI.
RJD national vice president Shivanand Tiwary also termed the meeting between two leaders “important”. “Both leaders have a very important role to play in forging opposition unity. The exit of Nitish from NDA has been the biggest setback to the BJP in recent times,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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