TRS working president and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao left here for New Delhi along with others to represent the party in supporting the candidature of Mr. Yashwant Sinha when he will file his papers for Presidential election on behalf of the combined Opposition at New Delhi on Monday.
This brings to an end speculation over the side the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) will take in the election, particularly after its president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced the decision to main ‘equi-distance’ from the BJP and the Congress.
The speculation gained further ground after the TRS skipped two meetings convened by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Nationalist Congress party president Sharad Pawar in New Delhi to discuss Opposition unity in the election. However, Mr. Pawar confided later that Mr. Rao had agreed to support Mr. Sinha when he called him up to extend the invitation.
Though Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao had taken the lead to forge unity among Opposition parties in the last few years in a bid to bring down the BJP-led Central government in recent years, he was equally bitter about Congress that it was hand in glove with the saffron party to defeat the TRS since the last Parliament elections. The Congress went to the extent of sacrificing its own chances in Huzurabad byelection to ensure the victory of the BJP. In this context, he recalled that Rahul Gandhi had not spoken a word against the BJP while targeting the TRS in his tour of Telangana last month. Therefore, the TRS will not share any platform with the Congress.
Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao also found fault with the manner in which Ms. Banerjee had convened the first meeting. He said proper would have been for the parties to identify a candidate acceptable to all of them initially and place the proposal for a broader discussion at the next meeting to build consensus. “What is the use of making up your mind on the candidate before hand and then inviting the parties?” he asked.
He obviously ceded his position after Mr. Pawar called him up but made no compromise on the TRS stand about the Congress. Sources said the support of TRS for Mr. Sinha was irrespective of the Congress. The TRS viewed Mr. Sinha as the candidate of parties ranged against the BJP and did not mean it went soft on the Congress. The TRS will organise its own meeting of MPs and legislators with Mr. Sinha when he will visit Hyderabad for the election campaign.
Those who accompanied Mr. Rama Rao to Delhi included TRS MPs Nama Nageswara Rao, K.R. Suresh Reddy, B.B. Patil, K. Prabahar Reddy, N. Venkatesh and C Ranjit Reddy.
