NEW DELHI: As part of an effort to stitch together a broad opposition alliance, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav met Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday.
Rao, who took the lead to create an anti-BJP front, meeting his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar in Mumbai in February, is in Delhi to take part in a week-long programme covering national, political and social meetings. "The Samajwadi Party chief and the chief minister discussed various national issues," a statement from KCR’s office said.
The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of the Congress' refusal earlier this month to enter into any alliance with KCR. On May 6, while addressing a rally in Telangana, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ruled out any tie-up with KCR’s Telangana Rashtra Samiti, saying the CM was "acting like a king".
KCR's next stop is Chandigarh, where he will meet 600 families of farmers who died "fighting for their rights" against the Centre. Along with Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, the chief ministers of Delhi and Punjab, respectively, he will contribute Rs 3 lakh to each family.