“After two or three months, you will get sensational news. No more questions. Thank you,” Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao replied to reporters’ questions about his national ambitions in Bengaluru, where he met Janata Dal (Secular) supremo HD Deve Gowda on Thursday.
That the Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief chose to fly to the Karnataka capital to meet the former prime minister while Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the former’s home state was viewed as a symbolic protest against the central government’s alleged apathy towards Telangana.
While KCR said his meeting with Gowda was pre-scheduled, it was the second time in the past four months that the Telangana chief minister had missed out on a Modi visit to his state.
Buy Now , Our best subscription plan now has a special price
After more than two hours of discussions with Gowda, who is also eyeing a role in national politics, KCR told reporters the country needed to change. “Countries that got freedom around the same time (as India) have moved forward but we are in the same place. The lives of Dalits, farmers and adivasis have not changed. Speeches do not change life. Stop it. There are issues like industry closure, high rates of inflation, declining GDP and the dollar, which has recorded an all-time high against the rupee. Time has come for the youth of the nation and intellectuals to change, and India will change. This country needs to rise beyond ‘isms’ and speeches.”
Asked what he had discussed with Gowda, he said, “We discussed everything, regarding national politics, Karnataka politics. There is going to be a change in national politics and none can stop it. You will get sensational news in the next three or four months.”
Asking journalists to join hands to change the country, he left without taking any questions.
In the 20th year of formation of the TRS, KCR had hinted at floating a national party where the stakeholders are likely to be regional parties. While the idea of a third front of regional parties has failed to take off yet, KCR is aiming to take his party to the national level with help from other regional parties. He has already met regional leaders such as Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena), Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin (DMK), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav.
Former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, who also spoke to the reporters, said that KCR was working for an alternative front. He is meeting several leaders and visiting states and wants to save the country and bring about a change in the interest of the country and poor people, the JD(S) leader said.
,