KCR meets Naveen Patnaik, calls for unification of regional parties against BJP, Congress

Visakhapatnam: Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrashekhar Rao, who embarked on a mission to cobble up a powerful Federal Front, met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday and discussed the possibility of forming a powerful alternative to both BJP and the Congress at the centre.

The Telangana Chief Minister met his Odisha counterpart in Bhubaneshwar.

Odisha: Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao meets Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar. pic.twitter.com/xYsVxUMR3j — ANI (@ANI) 23 December 2018

Later speaking to media, KCR said, ''Country needs a change for which dialogue has begun, we’re doing our part but nothing concrete has emerged. We’ve just begun the dialogue; we will meet again to discuss how to take things forward.''

On his meeting with the Odisha CM and BJD chief, KCR said, ''We need to talk to more people across the nation. There’s a dire need for the unification of regional parties as there’s a strong need for an alternative to Congress and BJP.''

Speaking on his turn, Patnaik said, ''We discussed several things including friendship of like-minded parties. We’ve not thought that (Parliament elections) far. He came to Odisha to offer thanks to Lord Jagannath for his tremendous victory.''

Along with his family members, the TRS chief earlier arrived in the port city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh where he offered prayers at a temple and sought blessings of a renowned seer.

KCR left Hyderabad in a special aircraft in the morning.

After landing at the Visakhapatnam Airport, they drove to the Sharada Peetham.

The TRS chief and his family members performed special prayers at Rajasyamala Temple. 

They later took the blessings of Swami Swarupanandendra.

Visuals from Visakhapatnam: Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao with his family visits Swaroopanand Saraswati Swami Sharada Peetham at Pendurthi. #AndhraPradesh pic.twitter.com/9vwfuPKcnC — ANI (@ANI) 23 December 2018

KCR then left for Bhubaneswar to call on Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

After a night halt in the Odisha capital, KCR will visit the famous Konark Temple and Jagannadha Temple on Monday and later leave for Kolkata, where he will call on his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee.

After a meeting with the TCM chief, the Telangana Chief Minister will visit Kalimata Temple.

Subsequently, he will leave for New Delhi, where he will have separate meetings with former Uttar Pradesh chief ministers Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav.

He is expected to stay in the national capital for a couple of days during which the TRS chief will make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

He will have meetings with some Union ministers and discuss state-related issues.

KCR, who led TRS to a landslide victory in Assembly elections in December, has earlier announced that he will focus on national politics to work for cobbling up an alternative to both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.

After the electoral victory on December 11, he had stated that a consortium of regional parties may emerge soon.

The TRS chief, who plans to visit various states, has hired the special aircraft for one month.

(With Agency inputs)