KCR eyes electoral pie beyond Telangana, to launch national party
Hyderabad, Sep 11: Ending speculations, Telangana Rashtra Samithi President and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday said he would launch a national party following more discussions with a cross-section of society.
Seeking to provide a national alternative to the dominant BJP and the Congress party, that is attempting at a bounce back, the TRS said it would reach a consensus on "alternative national agenda," by continuing discussions with various stakeholders.
Rao made it clear that the launch of the party and formulation of policies would follow extended discussions with intellectuals, economists and experts from various fields.
Earlier in the day, former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy called on Rao and discussions were on the contours of the proposed outfit.
The move takes forward Rao's "BJP-mukt Bharat" (BJP-free India) pitch and follows deliberations with several leaders belonging to parties other than the BJP and Congress.
An official release from Rao's office said that discussions preceded with a cross-section of society similar to initiatives ahead of the launch of the movement to seek a separate state of Telangana and such deliberations would continue.
"Very soon, the formation of a national party and formulation of its policies will take place," the release said.
Kumaraswamy welcomed KCR's proposed national party and hoped that the Telangana Chief Minister would play a key role in the country's politics, it further said.
'Bharat Rashtriya Samiti' (BRS), 'Ujwal Bharat Party' and 'Naya Bharat Party' were among the names that reportedly cropped up recently in the TRS circles for the proposed national outfit. However, there was no official confirmation.
Rao, who has been blaming the saffron party's government at the Centre for the "ills" plaguing the country, has been batting for a vibrant role for Telangana in national politics.
The BJP in Telangana has been working aggressively to take on the ruling TRS and the saffron party emerged as a force to reckon with in Hyderabad municipal polls. It also managed to win two Assembly bypolls (including Huzurabad) while the TRS won the other two. The BJP leaders have also been touring Telangana vigorously.
The TRS, in its Foundation Day event in April this year, adopted a resolution that the party should play "the key role in national politics" in the wider interest of the country as the BJP is exploiting "communal sentiments" for its political convenience.
Rao has in recent past met several non-BJP and non-Congress opposition leaders, including Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and Hemant Soren.
During such discussions, topics like BJP's alleged anti-people policies and bringing about a "qualitative change in the country" came up.
Recently the presidents of TRS district units called on Rao, also known as KCR, and nudged him to take the "national politics plunge" to put an end to BJP's "anti-people rule" at the Centre.
Kumaraswamy, in a tweet, said KCR expressed the need to build a "parallel political front" vis-a-vis national political parties.
The JD(S) leader assured to stand with him and wished good luck to the new front.
"Elderly Statesman Sri KCR said that he will take a plunge into national politics around 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections and before Vijayadashami festival," he said in another tweet.
Kumaraswamy and Rao discussed the development of Telangana and the role of regional parties in national politics. Also, the deliberation was on the key role that KCR should play in national politics in the present situation, the release from Rao's office said.
The JD(S) leader said the country urgently needed a senior leader like Rao, considering the "space for an alternative" in the current national politics, according to the release.
KCR apprised Kumaraswamy that there is "increasing pressure" on him to enter national politics and lead the country like he did for Telangana.
Both the leaders opined that the people have formed an opinion that the Congress is not a strong alternative to the BJP. The public have lost faith in the leadership of the grand old party, the release stated.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
