TRS switches to national mode

Hyderabad: Bolstered by the plan to launch of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), TRS MPs may go on the offensive against the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre in the Winter Session of Parliament, raising issues that appeal to the entire nation rather than just Telangana, in line with TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao's national political ambitions.

As the Winter Session begins on Wednesday, Rao is said to have asked party members in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha not to limit themselves to Telangana-specific issues but to also raise issues of national importance. The TRS has nine Lok Sabha members and seven Rajya Sabha members.

According to party sources, because the Election Commission is expected to approve BRS anytime after the results of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections on December 8, the CM asked MPs to use the Winter Session to project BRS as a national party.

Among the critical issues that the CM wants the MPs to raise are power reforms, privatisation of PSUs, rising fuel and essential commodity prices, the Centre usurping the powers of states, the establishment of a separate ministry for BCs, the enumeration of OBCs as part of the Census, and increased reservations for OBCs, SCs, and STs in education and employment. Other issues include a Dalit Bandhu-type scheme for the entire country for the social and economic upliftment of Dalits and free power to agriculture.

TRS Lok Sabha floor leader Nama Nageshwar Rao, who attended an all-party meeting convened by the Centre on Tuesday ahead of the Parliament session, demanded that the Centre hold debates on all of these issues.

The TRS also demanded a debate on the Centre's discrimination against Telangana in the allocation of funds and projects, loan restrictions that cost the state government Rs 40,000 crore, and the failure to fulfil state-bifurcation-related promises even after eight years.