Congress slams KCR's anti-BJP front; dubs him, Patnaik & Jagan 'ATMs' in furious rant

Slamming Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for pitching an anti-BJP front ahead of the GHMC elections, Congress leader Manickam Tagore has said that KCR is "ATM" which means "Anytime Modi supporters". Taking to Twitter, Tagore said that KCR supports the saffron party in Rajya Sabha and alleged that he is attempting to confuse those who oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. He coined the word "ATM - Anytime Modi" for Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy as well as KCR. 

A war of words broke out over his remark as TRS leader Kavitha Kalvakuntla warned him against using such words for KCR. Citing the issue of farm bills, Kalvakuntla said that KCR, who is her father, is a fighter and her party is the voice of the people. Tagore claimed that he was present in the Lok Sabha and opposed the farm bills while TRS only spoke about the issue after Akali Dal's agitation. To this, Kalvakuntla shared a screenshot of attendees of Lok Sabha on the day when farm bills were to be tabled and asked as to why Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was absent. 

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Anti-BJP front?

In a big political development, Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao has called a meeting of non-BJP leaders and parties in December. Sources said that an invitation for the closed-door meeting has been sent to NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Trinamool's Mamata Banerjee, JDS chief Kumaraswamy, Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav, BSP supremo Mayawati, Shiromani Akali Dal's Prakash Singh Badal, BJD's Naveen Patnaik and DMK's Stalin. Sources said that many other political parties can take part in the proposed meeting and the leaders are set to discuss a strategy to form an anti-BJP platform. 

This comes at a time when BJP along with its ally JDU has registered another poll victory in Bihar and has won several bypolls including the sole bypoll in Telangana, at Dubbak. While a leadership crisis is haunting the Congress once again with its allies blaming the grand-old party for poor performance, the BJP has also lost its allies - SAD and Shiv Sena - in the recent past. 

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BJP hits back

Soon after the Telangana CM called for an anti-BJP meeting of leaders and parties across the country, BJP responded and said that KCR is insecure and shaken with the imminent possibility of BJP's rise across Telangana. The saffron party claimed that there is a possibility of BJP's victory in the upcoming GHMC elections, and hence KCR is raising the issue of an anti-BJP and an anti-Modi front. Stating that BJP is not threatened, the party stated that it is ready to fight against its adversaries. 

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