BRS’ Khammam meeting to yield critical mass

KCR zeroes in on potential allies

Maintains strategic distance from Nitish, Mamata and Sharad Pawar

SNCN ACHARYULU
Hyderabad

Going by the A-list of national level leaders of political parties invited to the first major public meeting of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti to be held on January 18 in Khammam under the aegis of TS Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, it appears that KCR has zeroed in on potential allies of the BRS, while keeping leaders of other parties away strategically.

Noticeably, KCR, after launching BRS, has not interacted with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and NCP president Sharad Pawar, though they too are going to fight the BJP in the next General Election.

The political line of Chandrasekhar Rao is different from the ones adopted by these three leaders at the national level. So, KCR has not consulted them yet, and they too are not showing any interest in BRS.

KCR, after having declaring a political war against BJP at national level, had initially proposed a federal front to fight BJP in the upcoming General Election. At that point of time, he had visited several states and met several anti-BJP leaders, including Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar, to enlist their support for the federal front he had in mind then.

KCR had gone to Kolkata twice and discussed the front with Mamata Banerjee. KCR went to Bihar and discussed it with CM Nitish Kumar about the need for a united fight against BJP. KCR went to Mumbai and discussed the same with Uddhav Thakre, who was Chief Minister at that time. He went to Sharad Pawar’s residence as well to discuss the front and plans to fight against BJP. All these leaders had responded favourably to KCR’s proposal then.  

However, after KCR launched BRS, all these leaders have maintained silence. KCR also did not speak with these leaders after the launch of BRS.According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the Chief Ministers of Delhi, Punjab and Kerala viz. Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Singh and Pinarayi Vijayan respectively are attending the Khammam meeting. Former chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav and Kumaraswamy are also attending.

However, KCR reportedly did not invite Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar. This is obviously because Nitish Kumar and Sharad Pawar have decided to go with the Congress in their fight against the BJP in the coming General Election. Both these leaders announced this openly. Mamata Banerjee is maintaining silence over BJP after raids by the central investigation agencies on her cabinet ministers and party leaders.

Mamata Banerjee surprised many by meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently. Mamata Banerjee is not attacking the BJP these days, unlike in the past. However, by the time of next General Election, Mamata may also take the line adopted by Nitish Kumar and Sharad Pawar to go with Congress.