VIJAYAWADA: In what can be seen as an indication of a realignment of regional parties to stop the march of the BJP southwards, DMK chief MK Stalin, along with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, will attend the swearing-in ceremony of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy here on May 30. Soon after that, the three leaders will attend the swearing-in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.Jagan, who has extended personal invitation to KCR, called up Stalin and invited him to the swearing-in ceremony. Stalin has accepted the invite and he will arrive in Vijayawada on Wednesday, YSRC sources said.
The meeting of the three leaders assumes significance as the BJP, which swept the North in the recent elections, has set its sights on the Southern corridor seeking to emerge as the main opposition in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh by next elections.
Though the DMK fought the elections in alliance with the Congress, it appears that in the aftermath of the grand old party’s debacle, Stalin may reconsider KCR’s proposed front.
In fact, KCR had met Stalin in Chennai and pitched the idea of an anti-BJP, anti-Congress federal front in the run up to the elections, but the DMK chief did not respond positively to the idea and, instead, preferred to sail with the Congress. Now in the changed political scenario, Stalin may either act as a bridge between the Congress, KCR and Jagan or he may join hands with the two Telugu leaders to form a formidable force in the Lok Sabha.
The DMK and YSRC have emerged as the third and fourth largest parties in the new Lok Sabha respectively. The three leaders will be visiting the famous Goddess Kanaka Durga temple atop the Indrakeeladri either Wednesday or Thursday. Though representing a Dravidian party, Stalin has been working hard to get rid of the anti-Hindu tag and his visit to the temple is just one among many such in recent times.
Incidentally, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami was in Tirumala Tuesday. But he left for Chennai soon after having darshan of Lord Venkateswara.Meanwhile, with a host of VIPs visiting Kanaka Durga temple, the authorities have made elaborate security arrangements.
Apart from Jagan, KCR and Stalin, Governor ESL Narasimhan will also offer prayers at the temple on Wednesday. Narasimhan and his wife Vimala Narasimhan will visit the shrine on Wednesday evening. Temple executive officer V Koteswaramma on Tuesday said as per her information, Jagan, accompanied by Chandrasekhar Rao and Stalin, will visit the shrine either Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.
“We have not been informed of the exact time of the VVIPs’ visit due to security reasons,’’ she said. As part of the security arrangements, police and temple officials are conducting thorough checks in and around the hill shrine.
“We are making arrangements to take the VVIPs through the ghat road. If police officials oppose the proposal, the VVIPs will reach the hill shrine through lifts in Mallikarjuna Maha Mandapam,” Koteswaramma said.