Telangana Rashtriya Samiti tries to woo Tummala Nageswara Rao into party

Sources said TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao wants a ‘Kamma’ man from Telangana state to join the council of ministers to keep the community happy. They have a sizeable presence in Khammam, Adilabad and Nizamabad besides the Greater Hyderabad region.

Incidentally Mr Nageswara Rao has been a close friend of Mr Chandrasekhar Rao since three decades. Currently, the TRS has no ‘Kamma’ legislator elected.

Everybody knows in state politics that both Mr Nageswara Rao and former Khammam MP Nama Nageswara Rao are leading separate groups in Telugu Desam in the district, and due to their differences both of them lost Khammam Assembly and Khammam Lok Sabha seats respectively in the recent general elections.

The TRS has only one legislator from Khammam, Jalagam Venkata Rao, son of late former chief minister Jalagam Vengala Rao hailing from the Velama community. Mr Chandrasekhar Rao also belongs to the same community.

In the 12-member TRS Cabinet there are three ministers, including the Chief Minister, from the Velama community. Mr Chandrasekhar Rao has already promised ministry to former minister Jupally Krishna Rao from Mahbubnagar district, who again belongs to the Velama community. If Mr Venkata Rao is appointed there will be five Velamas in the total permissible ministry size of 18. This was said to be the reason for Mr Chandrasekhar Rao for sending feelers to Mr Nageswara Rao to join the TRS.

However, Mr Nageswara Rao’s associates say they are not aware of any such decision. “We haven’t heard of any such feelers. So far the CM did not speak to Tummala and invite him. It is a fact that both Tummala and Nama have serious differences in Telugu Desam and our leader is not happy the way things are going in the party affairs,” commented a close follower of Mr Nageswara Rao.

But the leaders in Mr Nama Nageswara Rao group are openly saying that Mr Tummala Nageswara Rao is being persuaded by the TRS leaders to shift loyalties.

Meanwhile, Mr Chandr-asekhar Rao has reportedly asked party leaders to see to that the TD should not win the Khammam Zilla Parishad Chairman post in the August 7th elections.

Though the TD got a majority of 19 ZPTCs in 39-member Zilla Parishad, the TRS leaders are now in touch with other parties as well as with Mr Tummala Nageswara Rao group for the defeat of TD candidate.

TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu also reviewed the situation and entrusted the job of winning the ZP chairman post to Mr Nama Nageswara Rao. Thus Khammam ZP chairman election is bound to a create political racket in the coming days.