Telangana CM KCR meets Nitish Kumar in Patna, calls for ‘BJP – Mukt Bharat’
Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao called for a BJP-mukt Bharat as he met his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar and other leaders of the grand alliance in Patna on Wednesday
Rao’s meeting with Kumar as well as deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav assumes political significance amid the ongoing political slugfest between the Mahagathbandhan and the BJP in the state. The saffron party has also undertaken an aggressive campaign to expand its base in Telangana.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, at a press conference with the Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar in Patna, called for a “Bharatiya Janata Party-mukt Bharat [India devoid of Bharatiya Janata Party]
“The BJP is out to sell everything,” he said. “Now they have only one slogan left, Becho India [Sell India].”
KCR has been advocating for a non-Congress, non-BJP front at the national level as, according to him, both the national parties “failed in developing” the nation.
“Before the Modi government, the rupee never depreciated so much. Why did farmers have to protest for over a year? The country faced losses in every sector due to failures of the Centre. It is a shame that the ruling party says that they will finish all other political parties,” said Rao
Telangana CM Rao was in Patna to distribute cheques of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the five soldiers from Bihar who were killed in a stand-off with the Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in 2020. Rao also gave cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to families of 12 Bihar-based migrant workers, who died in a fire in Hyderabad in March, PTI reported
Rao has frequently attacked the Centre for its policies and calling for a change at the national level. In July, he met Opposition’s presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha in Hyderabad. He had also held meetings with Pinarayi Vijayan, Arvind Kejriwal and Uddhav Thackeray.
On Wednesday, Rao called Kumar “desh ka sammanit neta [country’s respectable leader.
On being asked if Kumar is the joint Opposition candidate for the next prime minister, Rao said “it is too early to say”.
Kumar on August 12 said that he was not interested in becoming the prime minister, but would play a role in uniting the Opposition parties against the ruling National Democratic Alliance.
On Wednesday, Kumar criticised the Narendra Modi-led government for refusing to grant special category status to Bihar, PTI reported.
“The special status could have helped us develop faster…I have now left them BJP-led government],” Kumar said. “The old times were different as Atal ji used to treat others with respect. Now there is no work, only prachar and prasaar [publicity].
“The special status could have helped us develop faster … I have now left them (BJP-led government). The old times were different as Atal ji (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) used to treat others with respect. Now there is no work, only prachar and prasaar,” said Kumar.
He blamed the Centre for the suffering of state governments, PTI reported. “State share in revenue is declining,” he added.
All states are suffering under the current dispensation. States’ share in revenue is declining,” alleged Kumar.
He also took a veiled dig at the BJP which has undertaken an aggressive campaign to expand its base in Telangana.
“Your [KCR] adversaries speak a lot against you. Little do they realise what stuff you are made of. You were the one whose single-minded struggle led to the creation of Telangana. The people will never desert you,” said the JD(U) chief.
“We will try to unite all opposition parties in the country,” said Rao in a joint press meet with Kumar.
KCR gives compensation
Kumar’s speech was preceded by KCR giving cheques of Rs 10 lakh each to five soldiers from the state who were killed in the stand-off with Chinese troops in Galwan valley of Ladakh in 2020.
The Telangana CM, who heads Telangana Rashtra Samithi, also gave away cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to family members of 12 migrant labourers from Bihar who died in a fire in Hyderabad in March.
“Your gesture of paying ex-gratia to the dead soldiers is exemplary. They did not die in your state but in a far-off place. It is truly magnanimous,” said Kumar, who recently dumped BJP, joined the multi-party ‘Mahagathbandhan’ and formed a new government.
Earlier on January 11 this year, Tejashwi and three other RJD leaders had met KCR in Hyderabad.
Taking a dig at Kumar and KCR, BJP leader Sushil Modi said their meeting is a “get-together of two daydreamers”.
“It is a meeting of two daydreamers who have no standing in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the BJP leader told reporters.
He dubbed the meeting as the “latest comedy show of opposition unity”.
