Hyderabad: In the New Year, both Telugu Chief Ministers — K. Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana state and N. Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh — want to play a new role.
Both the CMs are concentrating on national politics to achieve their goals. Which of the two will have a chance to play a role in national politics will depend on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections which are scheduled around April-May 2019.
Telangana state Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao wants to bring about a qualitative change in national politics and for this he has proposed a Federal Front which excludes the two main national parties.
AP CM N. Chandrababu Naidu has a single-point agenda that is to defeat the BJP at the Centre. For this he is trying to unite all the anti-BJP parties to form a front under Congress leadership. Mr Rao’s job is easier compared to Mr Naidu’s.
Mr Rao’s job is easier compared to Mr Naidu’s. Mr Rao advanced the Assembly elections in his state and won a landslide victory. Now, he can concentrate on the Lok Sabha elections. But in AP, simultaneous elections will be held for the Assembly and the LS. So Mr Naidu has to concentrate on both elections.
In Telangana, Mr Rao has no strong Opposition, but in AP, Mr Naidu has to face the YSR Congress. For Mr Naidu, the Assembly elections are more important than the LS elections. In TS, the TRS has already won the Assembly elections and is able to assess how may LS seats he can win in the state. Mr Naidu has no such yardstick by which to judge trends in his state.
