Presidential poll: Opposition unity in tatters; KCR not to attend Mamata Banerjee-led meeting

Hyderabad: Opposition unity suffered a major jolt after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao decided not to attend the meeting convened by Mamata Banerjee to discuss the Presidential election in New Delhi on Wednesday. The decision of the TRS not to attend the meeting was taken after a prolonged meeting of the party leaders headed by KCR at Pragathi Bhavan on Tuesday. It is also unclear whether Rao will at least depute any leader to represent the party.

KCR and senior leaders were discussing the pros and cons of the party's representation till late at night. Party also conveyed to Mamata Banerjee that KCR will not attend the meet in which Congress leaders too will participate. TRS leaders who attended the meeting were stated to have opined that the very convening of the meeting was done hurriedly. While it was meant to be a consultative meeting with the Opposition parties, some leaders were contacted by certain leaders projecting them as the prospective candidates, thereby indicating that it was not going to be a consultative meeting at all.

A majority opinion of the meeting was that TRS should maintain equidistance from Congress and the BJP. The possibility of Congress attending the meeting would send wrong signals if the TRS chose to attend. KCR's response to Mamata Banerjee's invitation was on expected lines because the former had been playing an active role in national politics by trying to mobilize the support of anti-BJP and anti-Congress parties in a bid to ensure the emergence of a new front that gave the country a different model of development.

The party leadership was also of the view that it could decide on supporting any candidate at a later stage. Currently, it was not politically sagacious to attend the Opposition Parties meeting, the meeting felt, according to party sources.

Presidential elections will take place on July 18 and the results will be declared on July 21.