Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday. Rao discussed with Modi the release of funds for 10 backward districts in Telangana, setting up of a separate high court for Telangana, Kendriya Vidyalayas in new districts, among other things, PTI reported.

On December 11, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi won the Assembly elections with a thumping majority to return to power in the state. This was Rao’s first meeting with Modi following the elections.

Rao is said to be exploring the possibility of establishing a federal front to contest the 2019 General Elections. On Sunday, he met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. At a joint press conference after the meeting, Rao said talks had begun for “a new front”. He also met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

On Monday, the Congress attacked Rao, claiming that he intended to help the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. “If you talk of exclusion and do not want to ally with those who want to ally with the Congress, then you are doing ‘politics of division’ and you want to help the ruling party,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters. Singhvi claimed that attempts to keep the principal Opposition party out of an alliance, makes it “clear that they want to help someone else”.