india

Updated: Oct 02, 2019 20:36 IST

After a gap of more than nine months, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to discuss various issues pending with the Centre.

Officials in the chief minister’s office familiar with the development said KCR, as Rao is better known, was given an appointment with the Prime Minister for 11.30 am on Friday. This will be the first meeting of KCR after Modi returned to power in May.

“It is going to be a courtesy call. At the same time, the chief minister will use the opportunity to list out all the demands pending resolution with the Centre and request the Prime Minister to solve them,” senior TRS leader and state planning board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar told HT.

KCR will also be attending the apex council meeting called by Union water resources minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat on Friday to resolve pending the river water disputes between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy will also be attending this meeting, which is also expected to discuss Godavari-Krishna river linkage project.

The last time that KCR had met Modi was on December 26, a couple of weeks after the former’s re-election as the chief minister of Telangana for a second consecutive term. He presented a long wish list to the Prime Minister, including special assistance to Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project.

However, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief did not get a chance to meet Modi later. He could not attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister on May 30 as his special fight was not given permission to land in Delhi that day.

Subsequently, KCR did not get appointment with the Prime Minister despite a couple of attempts. He skipped Niti Aayog governing council meeting and also another meeting on “one-nation-one-election” issue in June.

Since then, the TRS president had been very critical of the BJP and Modi at every given occasion. Though he initially contemplated inviting the Prime Minister for the inauguration of Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project on June 21, he did not do so.

KCR also strongly defended his decision of not inviting the Prime Minister for the inauguration of the Kaleshwaram project, which he claimed is the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation scheme, on June 21. The project would utilise water from the Godavari, which flows through Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

“Why should I invite the Prime Minister to every function? Is there any such rule? We invited Modi to the inauguration of Mission Bhagiratha in the past, though there was no financial assistance from the Centre despite a recommendation from NITI Aayog,” he said.

He even declared Modi as the most fascist ruler of the country and said he would continue to fight against the BJP, while maintaining the constitutional relationship with the Centre.