To fight BJP, KCR-Udhav to bond over lunch

New Delhi, Feb 17: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao will be meeting his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray on February 20 as part of his campaign against the BJP's alleged anti-people policies. Thackeray, the president of Maharashtra's ruling Shiv Sena, telephoned Rao on Wednesday, February 16 and invited him to Mumbai, a Telangana CMO release said.

Thackeray announced "complete support" to Rao's "fight" against the BJP's alleged anti-people policies and to uphold federal spirit, it said. Thackeray proposed that the future course of action on the issue be discussed when Rao meets him.

Appreciating Rao's efforts, Thackeray pointed out that the former has "raised his voice at the right time to protect the nation from divisive forces," the release said.

Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president HD Deve Gowda on Tuesday called up Rao and extended support to the latter's "fight." Rao, also known as KCR, told Gowda he would visit Bengaluru and meet him on the issue.

Rao, who has been critical of the BJP and the Union government on a number of issues, on Sunday said he will soon have meetings with his Maharashtra and West Bengal counterparts, Uddhav Thackeray and Mamata Banerjee, respectively, as part of the efforts to unite various political parties against the saffron party and the NDA government.

Holding that the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government should be dumped for its alleged anti-people policies, Rao had said he would play a major role in uniting anti-BJP political parties. TRS and BJP in Telangana have been engaged in a bitter of war of words over different issues for several months now.