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Updated: Dec 23, 2018 22:53 IST

Telangana chief minister and TRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday met his Odisha counterpart and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik for exploring an alternative front to the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliances.

KCR, as the TRS chief is popularly known, met Patnaik this evening at the latter’s residence, saying the regional parties should come together as the country needs a change.

“The dialogue for a new front has begun. We are making efforts to bring like-minded parties together though nothing concrete has come out. We will meet again in the upcoming days,” said Rao, congratulating Patnaik for his initiative to get the women’s reservation bill passed in the Lok Sabha. “My party fully support the cause of women,” he added.

The BJD, however, said Rao’s visit was purely personal. “The visit is totally personal and there is no political motive behind it.It’s a courtesy visit on chief minister Naveen Patnaik,” BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said.

KCR, who led TRS to a massive victory in recently concluded assembly elections, had said that a consortium of regional parties would soon emerge to challenge both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

The Telengana CM’s visit to Odisha comes a day ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Odisha where he would address a public meeting near Khurda, where the Paikas rebelled against the oppression of British in 1817. Modi would also unveil several developmental projects worth Rs 15,000 crore. The PM would come back to Odisha again on January 5 and 16 to address two separate public meetings as part of BJP’s focus on the eastern states.

Political analyst Panchanan Kanungo said the both Patnaik and KCR, who are likely to hold fort in their respective states, could play an important role after 2019 elections if the BJP and Congress-led alliances fail to get majority.

The TRS chief would spend a night in Bhubaneswar before heading for Sun Temple at Konark and Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri on Monday. He is also expected to meet West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday.