KCR meets Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram/Hyderabad, May 6: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who floated the idea of a non-Congress, non-BJP Front some time ago, met his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan here Monday.
The two leaders, however, refused to comment on the two-hour long closed door meeting which comes with two more rounds to go in the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections.
Rao is on a two-day visit to the state, along with his wife Shobha and their two grandchildren.
The meeting, which was held at the Cliff House, official residence of Kerala Chief Minister, was also attended by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs Santosh Kumar and Vinod Kumar.
Rao, who is staying at Kovalam, a famous tourist destination in the state, will travel to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on May 8.
A statement from the Telangana Chief Minister's Office (CMO) earlier said, Rao will meet Vijayan at Thiruvananthapuram Monday evening, while he will call on DMK president M K Stalin at his residence in Chennai on May 13.
According to the statement, Rao and Vijayan, who heads the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala, will discuss "contemporary politics".
"In view of the Parliamentary elections, both the CMs will discuss contemporary politics," it said.
Rao will visit the Rameshwaram and Srirangam temples before returning home, the statement said.
Discussing the Rao-Stalin meeting, it said, "Both the leaders are likely to discuss current political scenario in the context of ongoing Parliamentary elections."
Learning about his visits to Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy also had a telephonic talk with Rao, the statement said.
The chief minister's daughter and sitting Nizamabad Lok Sabha member K Kavitha told PTI recently that regional parties not aligned with the Congress and the BJP will get 120-plus seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, and may hold the key to government formation.
She said the TRS is in touch with various parties not part of the BJP-led NDA and Congress-anchored UPA in its efforts to forge a federal front of regional outfits.
A federal front will take good shape after the Lok Sabha election results are out, Kavitha said.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
