After Naveen Patnaik, KCR meets Mamata Banerjee, discusses Federal Front

The TRS chief is on a mission to cobble up a powerful Federal Front on Sunday morning.

KOLKATA: On a mission to form a unified opposition in 2019 Lok Sabha elections against Narendra Modi-led BJP government and the Congress, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Upon his arrival in Kolkata, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president was received by West Bengal Chief Minister and several top figures of her cabinet.

Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao meets West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/234HU98uTE — ANI (@ANI) 24 December 2018

''Our dialogue will continue, very shortly, we will come out with a concrete plan. We are discussing things. I will continue with my efforts,'' KCR said after meeting the West Bengal CM.

Telangana CM K. C Rao after meeting with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee: Our dialogue will continue, very shortly we will come out with a concrete plan. We are discussing things. I will continue with my efforts. pic.twitter.com/cXgl84rmyz — ANI (@ANI) 24 December 2018

Following his West Bengal visit, KCR will start for New Delhi where he is scheduled to meet BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav – both former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh. 

KCR is expected to stay in the national capital for a couple of days during which he will make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will have meetings with some Union ministers and discuss state-related issues.

Onboard a special aircraft, the TRS chief had embarked on a mission to cobble up a powerful Federal Front on Sunday morning, and, in the process, met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik later bin the evening.

During his meeting with Patnaik, the two leaders discussed the possibility of forming a powerful alternative to both BJP and the Congress at the centre.

The Telangana Chief Minister met his Odisha counterpart in Bhubaneshwar.

Later speaking to media, KCR said, ''Country needs a change for which dialogue has begun, we’re doing our part but nothing concrete has emerged. We’ve just begun the dialogue; we will meet again to discuss how to take things forward.''

On his meeting with the Odisha CM and BJD chief, KCR said, ''We need to talk to more people across the nation. There’s a dire need for the unification of regional parties as there’s a strong need for an alternative to Congress and BJP.''

Speaking on his turn, Patnaik said, ''We discussed several things including friendship of like-minded parties. We’ve not thought that (Parliament elections) far. He came to Odisha to offer thanks to Lord Jagannath for his tremendous victory.''

Earlier on Sunday, the TRS chief arrived in the port city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh along with his family members and offered prayers at a temple and sought blessings of a renowned seer.

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