The ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana would organise a public meeting at Khammam town on Wednesday which would be attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and CPI's D Raja.
The meeting assumes political significance as it is the first public meeting after the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) decided to go national by renaming itself as BRS and also because leaders of different opposition parties -- BRS, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Samajwadi Party and the Left -- would be seen together.
BRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and the visiting leaders would on Wednesday go to the Lord Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Yadadri near Hyderabad which has been renovated on a grand scale by the Rao government, before proceeding to Khammam.
At Khammam, about 200 km from Hyderabad, they would attend the launch of the second phase of 'Kanti Velugu', the Telangana government's eye screening programme, senior TRS leader and former MP B Vinod Kumar told PTI on Tuesday.
Alleging that the spirit of the Constitution, including secularism, socialism and liberty, is getting diluted under the present BJP-led NDA regime, he said the BRS is trying to bring in "alternative politics" to the nation.
Asked if the Khammam public meeting can be seen as a step towards the unity of opposition parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, Kumar said it is not just formation of an oft-repeated "front" and that the BRS would like to show "alternative politics" to the people of the country.
"Alternative politics" of development and liberal thought, said Kumar who is vice- chairman of Telangana State Planning Board. Speaking after hoisting the pink colour flag of BRS after the Election Commission approved the name change of TRS as BRS in December, 2022, Mr Rao, also known as KCR, exuded confidence that the "pink flag would fly high on the Red Fort one day."
Addressing his party leaders then, he gave the slogan of 'Ab ki baar kisan sarkar' (farmers' government this time) and said new economic, environment, water, electricity and women empowerment policies are needed in the country.
Meanwhile, state BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar took potshots at KCR for taking the CMs of other states to the Yadadri temple.
"Temples have become business centers for Kalvakuntla family. Yadadri development is an investment & public contributions to holy Hundi are returns says #TwitterTillu "Is KCR taking other states CMs to showcase Hindu temple as investment opportunity ahead of BRS Khammam meeting?" he tweeted.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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