KCR meets Stalin, gets message: DMK committed to alliance with Congress

Stalin's party conveyed its stand and reaffirmed its alliance with Congress

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao met DMK President M K Stalin in Chennai on Monday--an event that's likely to add to the buzz that regional leaders are drawing up their cards ahead of Lok Sabha election results.

The meeting at Stalin's home lasted over an hour and it was a courtesy call, DMK said. Rao did not speak to media after the meeting. KCR was told that Stalin was committed to his alliance with the Congress party, DMK said in a statement.

Apart from Stalin, other senior DMK leaders like T.R. Baalu were present at the meeting with Rao. DMK aligned with Congress for the Lok Sabha elections and Stalin had earlier proposed Rahul Gandhi's name for the Prime Minister's post and continues to stick to that.

Last week, KCR met Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and Karnataka CM H.D.Kumaraswamy, who also aligned with Congress.

This is the second meeting between Rao with Stalin. Rao, when he met met Stalin last year, has discussed issues related to state autonomy, finances and the political situation. Stalin said KCR was in talks with other political parties and he would speak about various issues with other like-minded parties in Tamil Nadu and at different levels within the DMK.

KCR, the founder of Telangana's ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi, has said before India needs honest federalism and it should continue to remain a secular country.

KCR, who is perceived to be close to the BJP and PM Narendra Modi also met Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik last year and has been trying to meet Uttar Pradesh leaders inluding Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav.