Hyderabad: The principal Opposition parties, Congress and the BJP, termed TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's visit to Maharashtra as a futile exercise and an attempt to divert the attention of the people from their problems.
TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy said that Rao was trying to weaken the UPA and make Prime Minister Narendra Modi stronger. “There is a hidden agenda in KCR’s tour to Maharashtra. If KCR is against Modi, why not meet the NDA forces who are against him,” Revanth Reddy asked.
The state Congress chief said that Rao should first meet Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Arvind Kejriwal and unite them against Modi. “The BJP is benefiting from polarisation of votes by the MIM. KCR is trying to help Modi by weakening the UPA, he said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and others had already said that there is no alternative for the BJP without the Congress, the TPCC chief said. To create confusion among dissenting forces in the TRS, Rao was giving the impression that he is opposing Modi and would be friendly with the Congress, Revanth Reddy said.
Rao’s former close associate and BJP Huzurabad MLA Etala Rajendar said Rao was trying to escape from the problems in Telangana state and had begun the drama of national politics. “Rao’s earlier efforts to form a front failed as no national leader believed him,” Rajendar said.
“It is simple logic. Any political leader would welcome a meeting with a Chief Minister. But KCR is giving the impression that he will play a key role in national politics, rajendar said.
Former PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah said Rao’s attempt to project himself as a national leader would not work. Without the Congress, no alternative front could be built against the BJP, he said, repeating what Revanth Reddy had said.
Lakshmaiah, a former minister, pointed out that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had become Maharashtra Chief Minister only in alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar. This shows that no alternative to the BJP is imaginable without the Congress.
BJP OBC Morcha national president, Dr K. Laxman said that Rao's Maharashtra visit was a futile exercise. “When he is ailing with the MIM, how can the TRS get support from Shiv Sena,” asked Dr Laxman, former state BJP chief.
“People know the opportunistic politics of KCR,” he said. “It is clear that KCR is trying to closer to the Congress.” Dr Laxman said the BJP had emerged as an independent force both at the state and the national levels.
