Tejashwi Yadav meets Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao in Hyderabad in an attempt to forge opposition unity against the BJP

On January 9, Chandrashekar Rao held separate meetings with senior leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in Hyderabad on January 11.

Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, met K. Chandrashekar Rao, Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) supremo, in Hyderabad on January 11. The Chief Minister’s Office described the meeting at the Pragati Bhavan, the official residence of the Chief Minister, as "a courtesy call". A four-member RJD delegation arrived in Hyderabad by a special flight to meet Chandrashekar Rao.

Sources told Frontline that the discussions were about the political situation at the Centre, the need to find common ground among the opposition parties, and an effort to forge an alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre. The Telangana Chief Minister has for long proposed that the opposition parties should work together in a bid to take on the Narendra Modi-led government and the BJP.

Tejashwi was accompanied by former Minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, ex-Legislative Council member Sunil Singh and former Legislative Assembly member Bhola Yadav. Chandrashekar Rao was accompanied by his son and Industry Minister K.T. Rama Rao, Member of Parliament Santosh Kumar and several other prominent TRS functionaries.

Left leaders meet Chandrashekar Rao

On January 9, Chandrashekar Rao, who in recent months has had a frosty relationship with the BJP, especially on matters relating to paddy procurement and the Central government’s public sector disinvestment programmes, held separate meetings with senior leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India. The CPI delegation included party general secretary D. Raja, State secretary Chada Venkat Reddy and Rajya Sabha member Binoy Viswam. The CPI(M) leaders included general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

While the CPI(M) leaders were in the Telangana capital of Hyderabad to attend the party’s central committee meeting, CPI leaders were in the city to celebrate the 16th National Conference of the All India Youth Federation.