Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Tuesday called for voting out the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government. He said that the BJP needs to be “thrown into the Bay of Bengal”, reported The News Minute.

“Unless it is done, this country can’t progress,” Rao said at a press conference.

The chief minister also accused the BJP of spreading hatred along religious lines and dividing the country for political gains, reported The Times of India. “BJP is a misfortune to happen to this country,” he said.

He crticised the Congress too and said that the country needed a change to “react and liberate itself from senseless parties and leaders”. He said that there was a need to rewrite India’s Constitution to fulfil the expectations of the country’s citizens.

Rao alleged that both the Congress and the BJP have failed to address the basic needs of people in the 75 years since Independence.

“Nothing will change in this present setup,” the he said. “We need to draft a new Constitution of India. So many nations, whenever they felt it is necessary, they have rewritten their constitutions, they have brought in new constitutions...New thinking, new direction, new constitution. This will be our slogan. You wait and see.”

Rao has been trying since 2018 to piece together an alliance of parties other than the Congress and BJP.

Ahead of the 2019 General Assembly elections, Rao had met several political leaders, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin to push for a third front, reported NDTV.

“Towards that change, as KCR, as a son of this country, I will definitely fulfil my responsibility,” the chief minister said. “How will that look? I am talking to many people in the country, and in a few days we will announce the policy. A new agenda needs to be set for India after 75 years.”

He alleged that the the Centre’s proposal to amend deputation rules of civil servants was a “conspiracy” against state governments. Rao is among various chief ministers, including Vijayan, Banerjee and Stalin, to oppose to the proposed changes to the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) rules.

If cleared, the four proposed amendments would allow the Centre to put officers on central deputation bypassing objections from state governments. In case of delay in the central deputation of a state cadre officer, they “shall stand relieved from cadre” by the Centre’s order, as per the proposed changes.

On Tuesday, Rao also said that he has been in talks with other political leaders to bring about a change. Rao said that he has already spoken to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on phone and will meet him soon.

“For the good of this country, we will keep fighting like soldiers,” he asserted. “I am ready to sacrifice my life for the country. We are not afraid of mad dogs who keep barking day and night.”

On Rao’s upcoming meeting with Thackeray, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that the two leaders have been working towards forming an alliance of the Opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, reported ANI.