New Delhi: While Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has been positioning himself as the anti-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) face, the 13-party joint statement's omission of him looks to have dashed his national political ambitions while also indicating divisions among the Opposition ranks, news agency ANI reported.


Senior leaders from 13 opposition parties released a united statement, including interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) patriarch Sharad Pawar, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.


In a joint statement, the opposition leaders voiced their alarm over occurrences of communal violence in various regions of the nation.


The joint statement, however, did not include representatives from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) or the Janata Dal (Secular), despite the fact that their respective leaders, N Chandrababu Naidu and HD Deve Gowda, had previously been prominent in national politics.


In political circles, the exclusion of the three parties from the unified statement is viewed as a setback to the Opposition's unity. The absence of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), TDP, and JD (S) are important given that the Opposition parties have been having talks in recent months to close ranks ahead of the 2024 general elections.


It also indicates KCR's isolation from national politics in the Opposition camp.


In recent months, the Telangana chief minister has demonstrated his national political ambitions, attempting to position himself as an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has also urged 'like-minded' parties to band together to build a third front to oppose the BJP.


Rao met with numerous Opposition leaders in an effort to step up efforts to unite anti-BJP parties on a single platform. During his February visit to Mumbai, he met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.


KCR has recently expanded his outreach to 'like-minded' groups, having backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi following alleged insulting statements made by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma against former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.


On the contrary, in what may be viewed as a huge defeat, Rahul Gandhi stated in a meeting with Telangana party leaders that Congress will not form an alliance with the TRS. Pawar and the Shiv Sena have also declared that there can be no third front without the presence of Congress.


While the TDP contested Assembly elections alongside the Congress in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, it was not included in the 13-party joint statement.


The JD (S), which has an alliance with the Congress in Karnataka, was also left out of the joint statement.


The TDP's exclusion from the list of "like-minded" parties suggests a likely clash between the party and Congress. The two parties have previously contested elections in cooperation, thus the omission has raised questions.


On Saturday, Sonia Gandhi (Congress), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Mamata Banerjee (TMC), M K Stalin (DMK), Sitaram Yechury of the CPI (M), Farooq Abdullah (NC), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), D Raja (CPI), Debabrata Biswas (Forward Bloc), Manoj Bhattacharya (RSP), and PK Kunhalikutty (IUML).


(With ANI Inputs)