Why KCR skipped Oppn meet in Patna

Telangana minister KT Rama Rao on Friday said any united front, with the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party being its fulcrum, will not succeed as these national parties have been a "disaster" for the country, a reason he attributed to his party Bharat Rashtra Samithi's absence from the crucial opposition meet in Patna.

"These two national parties have been a huge disaster for the nation. To have them as fulcrum, it makes no sense. It is important to unite people, not parties. Parties have united earlier too and failed...," he told reporters.

Rao, the son of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, is in the national capital to call on central ministers to discuss the issues pertaining to the southern state.

He further said, "If other parties join with these two national parties, the country will not benefit."

The minister's remarks come as 17 opposition parties on Friday resolved to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly to defeat the BJP and work with flexibility by setting aside their differences.

Rao said his party Bharat Rashtra Samithi has always maintained that parties should unite based on people-centric issue.

"Unfortunately, today the ecosystem is build in such a way that the BJP and the Congress have to be the nucleus of a front or coalition... this we do not subscribe to," he argued.

In the last 75 years, the two parties were given ample opportunity to govern the country. The Congress had 50 years and BJP 15 years, still there has not been much progress in the country, the Telangana minister said, adding that the country is reeling under high inflation and many parts still face water and electricity problem.

Rao asserted that KCR-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi has always batted for a third front without the Congress or the BJP. It is now treading on its own path and expanding outside Telangana, he noted.

Asked about the Congress' accusations of BRS being the 'B team of BJP', he said, "I can only say that this is intellectual and political bankruptcy."

"Congress has been a disaster for this nation and been a root cause of every malice that plays in India. The fact that the Congress was given 50 years and still not been able to deliver shows its mindset," Rao alleged.

Commenting on the BRS skipping the opposition meet in Patna, AICC in-charge for Telangana Manikrao Thakre said the KCR-led party stayed away as it has an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. 

"In Patna, all opposition parties met to discuss how they should be united to fight the BJP. But BRS leader KT Rama Rao is in Delhi to meet central ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah. He has never met them before, but today he is meeting them and this shows there is some kind of alliance with the BJP," he told reporters.

"The reason behind him meeting Amit Shah is to firm up the alliance. BRS is joining the BJP and chalking out a political strategy for future," Thakre added.