Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, also known as KCR, on Monday met DMK president MK Stalin in a bid to stitch together a third front ahead of the 23 May results for this year’s Lok Sabha polls. However, the DMK made it abundantly clear that the TRS should instead support the Congress-led alliance.
DMK Spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai wrote on Twitter, “Our leader @mkstalin persuades Telengana CM KCR to support the congress alliance in a crucial meeting today! #Elections2019 State leaders will be the heroes after #23May2019.”
Our leader @mkstalin persuades Telengana CM KCR to support the congress alliance in a crucial meeting today! #Elections2019 State leaders will be the heroes after #23May2019
— Saravanan Annadurai (@asaravanan21) May 13, 2019
KCR had sought an appointment with Stalin even in the past, but the DMK chief had denied his requests for a meeting citing his busy campaign schedule. However, people close to Stalin had hinted that the DMK supremo was not keen to entertain an idea of joining a third front since it would mean deserting the Congress, which is fighting the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu in alliance with the DMK.
On Monday, KCR met Stalin at his Alwarpet residence in Chennai and reportedly discussed with him his idea for a federal front alternative to the BJP and the Congress. But, the fact that KCR refused to meet the reporters waiting outside Stalin’s residence suggested that his meeting with the DMK leader did not go according to his wishes.
The Congress and the TRS have locked horns in Telangana in this year’s parliamentary polls after the two parties fought a bitter poll campaign last year during the assembly polls, when the KCR’s party won a landslide.