"He discussed the national political scenario," Pinarayi Vijayan said of the meeting with KCR
An evening meeting with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, initially called "courtesy visit" has been termed a "very important one" by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. But asked if he thought a non-Congress, non-BJP government was the way forward, and the possible Prime Ministerial candidates of such a front, Chief Minister Vijayan said, "All that will be seen after the results are announced".
Mr Rao, who is in the state for two days, is launching another initiative to have a non-Congress-non-BJP front that can take power in the centre after the elections, with a Prime Minister from south India. This was his first meeting to discuss the issue with the Left leader.
"It was a very important meeting. He discussed the national political scenario," Mr Vijayan said after the meeting. "According to KCR, neither the BJP nor Congress will get absolute majority in this year's national elections. So it is the regional players who will play a crucial role," reasoned the Chief Minister, who is heading the Left-led government in the state.
Sources said the two leaders had discussed the idea of a federal front on the lines of the "1996-formula" - the coalition government of the United Front that governed the country after the Congress lost the 1996 election. The UF government, however, had the outside support of the Congress.
In the late 80s and 90s, the country had witnessed several coalition governments that have not proved stable.
"Our country has seen several instances where Central governments have caused much harm to the states, federal elements have not been upheld. The centre must not take decisions that will harm states. There should be an action in this regard. We discussed several such issues," Mr Vijayan said.
KCR, as Mr Rao is popularly known, is seen as the pioneer of the term "Federal Front" as a third alternative for government formation at the centre. But the idea had not gained much traction in earlier meetings Mr Rao had with a string of opposition leaders, including Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee.
This time, the other meetings Mr Rao was planning, has not come through. Sources in the DMK said party chief MK Stalin may not be available for any meeting on May 13 as he would be busy campaigning. The DMK is contesting the election in alliance with the Congress.
Ms Banerjee, however, held out hope, telling NDTV that Mr Rao will visit Bengal again for further talks.