HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) left for a three-day visit to the national capital on Friday.
He is expected to raise various pending issues with the Centre, especially the pending disbursement of funds due to the state.
A strong supporter of a federal setup, KCR has been vocal about the Centre being partial in terms of disbursement of funds to BJP ruled states.
KCR left in a special flight from Begumpet airport on Friday morning. He is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides other Central leaders.
This would be his first meeting with the PM since the start of the farmers’ agitation. KCR has supported the farmers’ agitation and gave a bandh call in the state on December 8.
Apart from meeting Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Hardeep Singh Puri, the Chief Minister is likely to visit the site allocated by the Central government for setting up the Telangana Rashtra Samithi party office in New Delhi. The centre has already cleared the proposal of allotting land in South Delhi for a party office and intimated the state about it.
The CM is also expected to meet Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Nitin Gadkari.
Telangana has demanded over Rs 5,000 crore central aid for providing relief to those who suffered during the unprecedented floods and rain in Hyderabad this October. In the absence of any grant from the Centre, the state has disbursed Rs 550 crore from its own funds.
KCR has already announced that he would act as a unifier of all non-BJP political parties to provide an alternative to the nation in terms of a strong opposition.
In light of his vocal outbursts, it is yet to be seen how welcome the Chief Minister is made to feel in the national capital, especially after the BJP has gained some ground in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections and feels no need to cozying up to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
KCR is expected to return to Hyderabad on Sunday.