Punjab CM meets KCR, pitches for united fight against BJP

Hyderabad: Punjab Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Bhagwant Singh Mann met Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan on Tuesday to discuss the country's current political situation and the need to unite like-minded parties against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

During the meeting, which lasted more than a half-hour, Mann, while congratulating the Chief Minister on the launch of the BRS and the inauguration of the national office in Delhi, is said to have told the CM how AAP national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been fighting the BJP relentlessly by contesting elections in several states. He emphasised the importance of coming together with like-minded parties to checkmate the BJP-led government at the Centre, which is implementing anti-poor, anti-farmer, and anti-labour policies.

Mann was in town to meet with industrial behemoths in order to encourage investment into Punjab, and after meeting with business leaders, the Punjab CM headed to Pragathi Bhavan to meet with his Telangana counterpart. Rao greeted Mann as he arrived at Pragathi Bhavan with a bouquet of flowers and led him inside. "On this occasion, the two CMs discussed the political situation in the country along with the progress of Telangana, governance of the state of Punjab, etc," a press release issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) stated. Following the deliberations, the CM bid Mann farewell by presenting him with a shawl and a memento.

Rajya Sabha member Joginapally Santosh Kumar, State Planning Board vice-chairman B. Vinod Kumar, MLCs S. Madhusudhana Chary, Kadiam Srihari, government whip Balka Suman, MLAs A. Jeevan Reddy, Guvvala Balaraju, government chief advisor Rajeev Sharma, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, CM secretary Bhoopal Reddy, former MP S. Venugopala Chary, Civil Supplies Corporation chairman Ravinder Singh were present in the meeting.