Hyderabad:
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, popularly known as KCR, on Monday announced that he is in talks with political strategist Prashant Kishor “to bring a national change”, capping off months of attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP which rules at the centre.
“I am in talks with Prashant Kishor to bring a national change. Prashant Kishor is working with me on this. Who can have a problem with this? Why are they seeing him as a bomb? Why are they crying?” he said, speaking at a news conference in Hyderabad.
Rubbishing suggestions that he had signed a ₹ 300-crore contract with Mr Kishor, KCR said, “Prashant Kishor is my best friend for the last 7-8 years. He has never worked for money. He is not a paid worker. I am sorry you don’t understand his commitment to the country.”
Mr Kishor reportedly met KCR at his farmhouse outside Hyderabad last month, setting off speculation amid the Telangana Chief Minister’s efforts to cobble a front against the BJP ahead of the 2024 general elections.
For months now, there has been a conspicuous escalation in KCR’s attacks on PM Modi and the BJP. Last month, when the Prime Minister visited Hyderabad for the launch of a statue of Saint Ramanujacharya, Mr Rao skipped meeting him, citing health reasons.
Days before that, he roasted the
