Telangana Chief Minister and TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao is pleased with the praise showered on him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech during the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha Friday night. However, TRS circles told The Sunday Guardian that it would have no bearing on the ties between them and the BJP in the immediate context.
The PM while lashing out at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, whose TDP had brought in the no-confidence motion, said that the latter had played political games against Telangana ever since bifurcation of the combined state. “But Telangana CM and TRS leader KCR has focused his attention to the development of the state,” said the PM.
These words have hugely pleased the TRS leadership which has been crossing swords with the TDP on a host of issues concerning both the states. These words are viewed as the PM thanking the TRS for staying away from the Lok Sabha during the no-trust vote. TRS has 11 MPs and three more who have defected to it from the Congress, TDP and the YSR Congress.
The absence of TRS along with BJD brought down the Opposition numbers considerably. CM KCR decided to abstain from the vote in the last minute, around 7pm on Friday, though he was under pressure from a section of his MPs that they should vote for the motion as it would help them build an image that they fought against the Centre on the state’s issues.
However, KCR was firm on not going on the same lines with the TDP which is still being viewed as a party opposed to the interests of Telangana. That was a reason why TRS deputy leader in Lok Sabha B. Vinod Kumar had demanded that the seven revenue mandals that were merged with AP in June 2014 to facilitate the building of the Polavaram project be returned to Telangana.
Several TRS leaders had tweeted the PM’s comments in favour of KCR and had said that they reflected the right assessment of the TDP leadership by the entire nation. At the same time, the TRS leaders maintained that the PM’s comments won’t have any immediate impact. “There is no change in our stand that we should maintain distance from both the Congress and the BJP,” said TRS MLC Karne Prabhakar.
BJP national president Amit Shah, who has been concentrating on Telangana, is learnt to have called up a TRS MP seeking the party’s support to the BJP in the no-confidence motion. KCR’s stand not to go with the TDP’s motion has been acknowledged with thanks by the BJP leadership, according to a TRS MP who is in Delhi.