Weeks before the general election results, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K. Chandrashekar Rao landed in Kerala, where he will meet Left Democratic Front (LDF) leader and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. KCR's decision to meet Vijayan was sudden and surprising. According to Telangana CMO and TRS party sources, the meeting will be political, keeping in mind post-poll alliances. But, why did KCR choose to meet Vijayan, bypassing the party’s top leaders in Delhi? It has cast a shadow on a possible decisive outcome of the meeting.
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However, it is clear that the state dynamics played a key role in his decision to tour Kerala. The state is a stronghold of the CPI(M). Since the Congress is in the opposition, KCR’s idea could be to ask the left leaders to consider joining his federal front. CPI(M)’s top leaders have already shared stage with Congress at the Centre. Political analysts feel his latest move may also be to send a message that he is still relevant and that the federal front idea was very much alive. It will be very interesting to see how Vijayan responds.
In the coming days, KCR will also meet DMK’s M.K. Stalin. At a time when the DMK has allied closely with the Congress, and Stalin is vocal about about his support to the Grand Old Party, it is doubtful if anything important will come out of it. KCR, on Monday, spoke to Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) president H.D. Kumaraswamy. Since the party is ruling the state along with the Congress, it is tough to be convinced that JD(S) will prefer to go with a non-Congress alliance at the Centre. In the two states he is visiting in the next ten days, KCR is also likely to visit multiple temples.