KCR plans to give conditional nod to Nitish's opposition unity drive

HYDERABAD: BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is keen to support his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar's initiative for Opposition unity at the Centre for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, but with the condition that the Congress should not be given the role to lead the Opposition group.

BRS sources said the CM discussed the issue with the party's senior leaders on Thursday, following Kumar meeting his counterparts and party presidents representing regional parties in other states, and said that he plans to meet with the Opposition parties’ leaders immediately after the Karnataka Assembly poll results on May 13.

Rao's meeting came against the backdrop of reports that Nitish Kumar is planning to hold a meeting of non-BJP parties either in Delhi or in Patna on May 18.

With major exit polls predicting that the Congress has an edge in Karnataka, it is expected that the Congress will make a strong case for leading the Opposition against the BJP. Rao reportedly told leaders that the BRS working with the Opposition group led by the Congress would not be possible since it is the principal opposition in Telangana and has no major presence in the majority of states.

With Telangana going for  Assembly polls in less than six months, in December, working with the Opposition led by the Congress for the April 2024 Lok Sabha polls would be politically detrimental for the BRS in the state, Rao reportedly felt.

Party sources said Chandrashekar Rao wsa planning to depute party working president K.T. Rama Rao to the Opposition parties’ meeting to be convened by Nitish Kumar in the event of the Congress too being present.

Chandrashekar Rao had earlier deputed Rama Rao to take part in the filing of nomination papers of the joint opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha for the Presidential election in June 2022, which was attended by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi.

Kumar accompanied by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav met NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday. On Wednesday, Kumar met JMM president and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren in Ranchi. On May 9, he had met BJD chief and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik and Trinamul Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on April 26.