Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Wednesday clarified his decision to skip the meeting convened by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which she had reportedly called to discuss a joint strategy for the Presidential elections scheduled next month. Moreover, KCR also decided to not send anyone from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the ruling party in Telangana, to the meeting.
In the meeting, that Banerjee had convened to elect a presidential candidate on behalf of the Opposition, she had also invited the Opposition party Congress despite TRS raising objections. It is speculated that the Telangana CM decided to not attend the meeting to express his dissatisfaction with Banerjee, who did not accept his request. The meeting may seem taxing to various political leaders as it intends to put up a front to maintain opposition unity in order to take on the ruling BJP in the polls ahead, including the Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2024.
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A meeting with TRS members was held at Pragati Bhavan on Tuesday where the issue of whether or not to attend the meeting organised by the West Bengal CM was discussed at length. TRS party chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, along with other party members, finally decided not to attend the meeting.
According to KCR, his party had been distant from BJP and Congress for nearly 8 years. During his recent visit to Telangana, Rahul Gandhi had lashed out at KCR's government, saying the state was under the rule of a raja and not a Chief Minister. Moreover, to ensure TRS's defeat in the 2021 Huzurabad by-election polls, the BJP and Congress had formed a secret alliance. Chandrashekhar also criticized the method by which Mamata Banerjee was trying to conduct the meeting.
"In view of all this, attending the Congress-led opposition meeting in Delhi will send the wrong signals to the people," said KCR. He says that although the selection of the Presidential candidate is the main objective of the meeting, going to the same meeting that Congress will also attend will send a wrong message to the people. He does not want people to think the TRS is stepping in line with the Opposition party in Telangana.
