KCR to meet Nitish Kumar in Patna on Aug 31

Hyderabad, Aug 29 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will call on his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar in Patna on August 31.

According to Telangana Chief Minister's Office (CMO), both the Chief Ministers will discuss national politics during the luncheon meeting.

This will be Chief Minister KCR's first meeting with Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar after he snapped ties with the BJP to form a coalition government in Bihar with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) early this month.

The meeting assumes significance in view of Nitish Kumar's statement that he will lead the efforts to unite the opposition parties ahead of the 2024 general elections.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief, who has already declared his ambition to play a key role in national politics, is likely to discuss his plans to forge an alliance of like-minded parties to take on the Narendra Modi-led BJP.

KCR will be visiting Bihar after a two-day meeting with leaders of farmers' organisations from 26 states here. The farmer leaders appealed to him to lead the national movement for addressing farmers' issues and to replicate the Telangana model for development of agriculture and farmer welfare across the country.

The Chief Minister will leave for Patna on August 31 morning. He, along with Nitish Kumar, will handover financial assistance to the families of Indian soldiers who were martyred in Galwan valley. Cheques of Rs 10 lakh each will be given to families of martyred soldiers.

KCR will also provide financial assistance to the families of 12 Bihar workers who died in the recent accident in the state. Cheques of Rs 5 lakh each will be handed over to their families.

KCR had earlier visited Punjab in May to distribute financial aid among families of Galwan valley martyrs and also the farmers who died during the movement against three farm laws enacted by the Centre. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had accompanied him.

In March, KCR had visited Ranchi along with his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren, and handed over cheques of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of two soldiers.

He had announced in 2020 that the state government would give Rs 10 lakh each to the families of 19 soldiers who hailed from various states.

The Telangana government had given Rs 5 crore for the family of Colonel B. Santosh Babu, who along with 19 soldiers, was killed in the clash with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley of Ladakh on June 15, 2020. Santosh Babu was a resident of Suryapet town in Telangana.