KCR Talks With Karunanidhi, Stalin On Federal Front

In yet another significant development in his quest to form a non-BJP, non-Congress federal front, Telangana Chief Minister and TRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao today called on former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK boss M Karunanidhi, and his son and Leader Of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly M K Stalin.

Rao took a special flight from the Begumpet airport and reached Chennai on Sunday afternoon. Stalin and other top DMK leaders, including A Raja, accorded a grand welcome to the Telangana Chief Minister and his team comprising Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao, Finance Minister Etela Rajender, MPs K Keshav Rao, B Vinod Kumar, Palla Rajeshwar Reddy and V Prashanth Reddy, Mayor Bonthu Ramamohan and others.

KCR checked in at the ITC Grand Chola in Chennai with his team, and from there they went to meet the 93-year-old Karunanidhi at the latter's residence. KCR held talks with Karunanidhi on his proposed federal front, a platform of all regional parties he intends to create to take on the BJP and the Congress governments at the Centre.

KCR told the DMK leaders that the two national parties had failed to protect interests of the states, and stressed the need for another coalition of like-minded parties to remedy the situation.

KCR reportedly discussed the new front's agenda and sought Karunanidhi's support. He also closeted with Stalin and briefed him on the same.

As part of his itinerary, KCR will also meet with other key leaders of Tamil Nadu.

Talking to waiting media persons outside the residence of Stalin, KCR said that he was going to call upon all the southern states to join hands with him for the federal front initiative to ensure that the Centre did not command the states and impede them from developing. He said that as part of that he would interact with "his close friend" Chandrababu Naidu, too.

KCR is expected to hold similar meetings also with Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik in Bhubaneshwar and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Hyderabad.