Hyderabad: 

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a special flight to Hyderabad to meet Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today. On the face of it, it was a lunch meeting. But the timing was crucial – a day after Rahul Gandhi’s declaration that the Congress will not ally with any party close to the state’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the crisis in the Opposition over the events in Maharashtra.

BRS sources insisted that Mr Yadav’s visit to Hyderabad shows that the Opposition parties realise the importance of KCR and the BRS in their attempt to take on the BJP.

Interestingly, Mr Yadav said on his way to Pragathi Bhavan that they have to find ways to dislodge the BJP government and this was an effort to work towards it. The BRS working president, KT Rama Rao,  however, recently said their effort cannot be to dislodge any party but should be on issues. He also equated the Congress and the BJP, saying both need to go.