KCR bids to organise non-Congress opposition rally in Hyderabad

Bharat Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao has renewed backchannel communication with parties for an April meeting in Hyderabad to work towards Opposition unity ahead of 2024 parliamentary elections.

According to a leader involved in the exercise, KCR has invited Opposition parties for a meeting and rally in Hyderabad to signal formation of a rainbow alliance ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Those invited for the event include Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, Shiv Sena faction's Uddhav Thackeray, JDS' HD Deve Gowda, DMK president MK Stalin, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan (CPI-M), JMM's Hemant Soren, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. "While all political parties have shown keenness to come together on a common platform in Hyderabad, Mamata Banerjee has not revealed her mind," the senior leader told ET. KCR is likely to initiate political meetings in New Delhi this week. The move comes amid Nitish Kumar's remark that he was waiting for Congress' signal to work for unifying the Opposition.

The parties are considering April 14, the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, for the public meeting. KCR has been working to cobble a non-Congress, non-BJP alliance since early 2022. The efforts have been ramped up since December. In January, Vijayan, Aam Aadmi party convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Akhilesh Yadav and CPI general secretary D Raja attended KCR's massive public rally in Khammam. The larger messaging of the planned unity show is also internal as Telangana is slated for elections later this year. KCR has been trying to woo socio-economically backward classes through various development schemes.


KCR and Banerjee had spearheaded efforts to forge a federal front in 2018, a year before the 2019 parliamentary elections. A 'United India' rally was organised by Banerjee in Kolkata's Parade Ground in January 2019. It was attended by all major Opposition parties. However, no formal alliance was there in the parliamentary elections that followed months later. A senior Opposition party leader said, "the problem with KCR's efforts has always been a lack of consistency and his insistence of keeping Congress out of such talks. There is a divide among Opposition parties on whether Congress should be excluded so proactively."