KCR left hanging by Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s plan to discuss a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance for the 2019 elections with two key allies in Uttar Pradesh during his Delhi visit may have to wait, as BSP supremo Mayawati hasn’t confirmed a meeting, and SP national president Akhilesh Yadav postponed it. Rao, however, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday and submitted a 16-point demand for Telangana.
He was scheduled to meet Akhilesh and Mayawati in Delhi and discuss stitching an alliance of third-front parties. In Lucknow, the SP chief appreciated Rao’s efforts to build an alliance of third-front parties, but said he would not be available to meet in Delhi, and would visit Hyderabad after January 6 to meet Rao.
He added that an anti-BJP alliance would not include the Congress in UP. This statement is being seen in political circles as an outburst of displeasure with the Congress for not inducting the sole SP MLA in the Madhya Pradesh cabinet. “By keeping our lone MLA out of the MP cabinet, Congress has made our path easier in UP,” Akhilesh said on Wednesday.
According to sources, Rao is yet to receive an official confirmation for a meeting with Mayawati, who has been in Delhi since Sunday, but hasn’t allotted time for a meeting. The TRS chief, meanwhile, reached Delhi on Monday night and is likely to leave on Thursday. KCR met Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Sunday and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday.