Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao held a meeting with former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda at the latter's residence in Bengaluru on Thursday.
After the meeting, speaking with media, KCR said that there'll be a change at national level and nobody can stop it.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has an uncanny knack of ‘disappearing’ when PM Modi is in the state.
In February, PM Modi was in the state to unveil a statue of saint Ramanujacharya, but Rao could not receive the former as he was 'unwell'. Likewise, on Thursday, Rao was away in Bengaluru, ostensibly to meet former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda.
In fact, this is the second time in the last four months that KCR has done the Houdini Act and avoided meeting PM Modi during his visit to Hyderabad.
PM Modi, too, on arrival in Hyderabad to participate in the 20th year celebrations of the Indian School of Business, could not resist responding to charge of the CM playing truant and had a dig at "family-run parties" describing them as “enemies of the country.”
"Parivarwaadi' parties only think about their own development. These parties do not care about the poor; their politics is focused on how a single-family can stay in power and loot as much as they can. They do not have any interest in the development of people," Modi said, addressing party workers.
KCR responded to the ‘parivarwaad’ claim in kind: "There's a lot of 'bhaashanbaazi' (speeches), many promises are made but what is the reality? Industries are closing down, GDP is falling, inflation is increasing... Farmers, Dalits and tribals are unhappy."
Significantly, he also said there would be "change at the national level" and hinted at a "sensational news" in a few months, after the latest in his series of meetings with opposition leaders.
KCR has been meeting opposition leaders across the country in his efforts to cobble together a united front against the BJP in 2024. According to political observers he is projecting himself as the ‘sutradhaar’ of such an anti-BJP alliance.
"I met Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy and we discussed everything. There will be a change at the national level and no one can stop it. India will change...India must change. We should make every effort to change the state of the country," KCR said. "You will get sensational news after two-three months," he added, without elaborating.
KCR travels to Bengal next to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Also on agenda is a visit to Bihar, where he intends to meet both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav.
