The unexpected meeting of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav with Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) on Monday has raised many eyebrows.
Akhilesh flew down to Hyderabad in a special aircraft and was received by state minister Talasani Srinivasa Yadav at Begumpet airport.
From there, he straightaway came to Pragati Bhavan to have a three-hour long meeting with KCR, who also hosted him sumptuous lunch.
Whenever there is a such a meeting with national leaders, as had happened in the past, KCR’s office or the BRS party office releases statements on what had transpired between them. In the previous meeting, KCR even addressed a joint press meet along with Akhilesh Yadav.
But this time, everything was kept secret. Except a small statement that KCR had hosted lunch for the Samajwadi Party chief and both the leaders held discussion on national politics and other issues, there were no further details about what they had discussed.
The meeting concluded at around 5.30 pm and Yadav returned to Lucknow without making any comment on the meeting. There was no official statement from the Telangana CMO or the BRS leaders.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of the meeting of opposition parties at Patna to create a common platform to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the next year’s general elections. KCR was neither invited to the meeting nor did he make any attempt to attempt it.
Sources said the meeting could be a part of KCR’s strategy to confuse the opposition parties fighting the BJP. Apparently, he wants to send a message that there are parties like SP which are still in touch with him, though other parties are not believing him.
“The special flight was sent by KCR, who invited Akhilesh Yadav for lunch. He came, had lunch and naturally discussed ongoing national political developments and returned. Nothing more than that,” a source said.
