KCR Meets Naveen Patnaik in First Step Towards Federal Front, Says 'Dire Need' for Regional Satraps to Unite

Visakhapatnam: Telangana Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday embarked on a mission to cobble up a federal front, visiting the Sharada Peetham in Visakhapatnam for an auspicious start.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, and his family members performed special prayers at Rajasyamala Temple. They later took the blessings of Swami Swarupanandendra.

Rao then left for Bhubaneswar where he met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and emphasised a "dire need" for unification of regional parties to provide an alternative to the Congress and the BJP ahead of the 2019 general elections.

"I can say certainly that there is a dire need for unification of regional parties in the country. We strongly believe that there has to be an alternative to the Congress and the BJP," Rao told reporters after the meeting.

Both the chief ministers had a detailed discussion on national issues, including the need for "better friendship among regional parties," Patnaik said. "This is just the beginning of a dialogue... We will meet again and discuss how to take things forward," Rao said.

After a night halt in the Odisha capital, KCR will visit the 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 Banerjee, 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.

During his two-three day stay in the national capital, the TRS chief will make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will have meetings with some central ministers and discuss state related issues.

KCR, who led TRS to a landslide victory in Assembly elections in December, has 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.