TRS chief springs surprise, says will support Rahul for PM

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K Chandrasekhar Rao, who was critical of the Congress during his campaign in Telangana, sprang a surprise when he pledged support for Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi if he sought his party’s support to become the Prime Minister.

Speaking to select television channels and local newspapers, KCR, as the TRS chief is known, reiterated that there was no question of his party supporting BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. “We won’t support BJP or Modi, but will extend 100 percent support to Rahul,” he said, in reply to questions on the nest prime minister of India.

Claiming that Modi had walked into a trap set up by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu and senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, the fiery TRS leader said: “I don’t know why Modi, by falling prey to the two Naidus, committed hara-kiri in Telangana.”

The rather unexpected development, which came just a couple of days before Telangana goes to polls on April 30, is being seen as KCR’s ploy to placate voters who were upset with his criticism of Congress, which is seen by many as the party responsible for realizing the long-cherished dream of a separate Telangana state.

More importantly, KCR seems to have left a window open for a post-poll alliance with Congress following intelligence reports that the verdict in Telangana would see a hung Assembly.

Intelligence reports have it that both Congress and the TRS would bag 40-plus Assembly seats in the region, which is set to become India’s 29th state on June 2. The TRS chief was, however, quick to add that given the present political situation and equation, it was more likely that a leader from the Third Front would emerge as the front-runner for the prime minister’s post rather than Modi or Rahul. “Rahul can’t be compared with Sonia Gandhi, since he still has to mature further as a politician,” he said.

Asked how the TRS would extend support to Rahul when his party’s main rival in Telangana was Congress in the elections, KCR shot back: “That’s politics. It can’t be helped.”

The TRS president, who was consistently portrayed by the Congress as a betrayer for not keeping his promise of merging his party or at least working out an alliance, also heaped praise on Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “There is no way I can deny the role played by Sonia in the formation of Telangana state. I openly admit that it was because of her intiative that Telangana became a reality. I do have some regard for her,” he said, adding that the ‘arrogant’ second rung leadership in the Congress had damaged the chances of striking an alliance with the ruling party.

KCR, who drew flak from various quarters for remarks made against ‘settlers’ (as Seemandhra people settled in Telangana are referred to) during the campaign, changed his tune and assured the people from Seemandhra that he was not against them. “There is no need for people from the other state to feel insecure in Hyderabad and Telangana.

“I am a progressive person and I am very clear in my mind. My focus is on development of Telangana,” he said, adding that he was not against anyone who had come to Telangana to earn a livelihood but was against those who had looted the region.

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