Assembly win gives KCR’s TRS a clear edge in Telangana

Assembly win gives KCR’s TRS a clear edge in Telangana

FPJ BureauUpdated: Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 12:37 AM IST
article-image

Hyderabad: Buoyed by its landslide victory in the recent Telangana Assembly elections and with opposition parties looking demoralised, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) appears to have clear edge as it aims to make a clean sweep in the next month’s elections to 17 Lok Sabha seats in India’s youngest state.

The ruling party is working with ‘Mission 16’ while its friendly party Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) sitting pretty to continue its stranglehold on Hyderabad. Reeling under desertions by its MLAs, the Congress is struggling to put up a strong fight against TRS while the BJP’s prospects too look remote.

The TRS is appealing to the people to give all seats so that it, along with other regional parties, can play a key role in forming a non-BJP, non-Congress government at the Centre.  Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao, who is eying an important role in the national politics, is leading the party campaign along with his son and TRS working president KT Rama Rao.

“We got 47 per cent votes in the recent Assembly elections and won 75 per cent of the seats. We have initiated process to implement the promises we made. People are disillusioned with Congress and BJP. I believe Telangana will rock solidly stand with KCRji,” Rama Rao told IANS.

In the Assembly elections held in December, the TRS had sought a mandate on the basis of its performance, especially the welfare schemes implemented during the last four-and-half years.

Despite the Congress cobbling up a four-party front, including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the TRS got the massive mandate, winning 88 seats in 119-member Assembly. The ruling party’s tally swelled to 100 with nine Congress MLAs joining its ranks this month. One MLA from TDP also crossed over to TRS while two independents had already switched loyalties.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the TRS had bagged 11 seats while the Congress won two and the TDP, the YSR Congress, the BJP and the MIM got one each. Three MPs each of the TDP, the YSR Congress and the Congress later defected to TRS. On the eve of Assembly elections, TRS also lost one MP, with Konda Vishweshwar Reddy joining the Congress. He is again contesting from Chevella, this time on the Congress ticket.

The TRS, which dropped four outgoing MPs, is especially focusing on four constituencies, including Secunderabad and Khammam which it has never won. In the 2014 Assembly polls, the TDP-BJP combine had bagged 14 of the 24 Assembly seats and Secunderabad and Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituencies. This was mainly because ‘settlers’, as the people from

Andhra Pradesh living here are referred to, threw their weight behind the alliance. The TDP also did well in Khammam district, another place where the TRS could not establish itself. Since then, the TRS has made major inroads in Greater Hyderabad, the capturing Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) with a landslide majority in 2016. In the recent Assembly elections, it won 14 out of 24 seats while MIM retained seven seats.

In a political masterstroke, KCR roped in TDP leader and former MP from Khammam, Nama Nageswara Rao and within hours declared him the TRS candidate from Khammam Smarting under desertions of its leaders, the TDP opted out of the race for Lok Sabha elections, helping TRS to achieve its goal of finishing off TDP, which it considers an Andhra party.

RECENT STORIES

Bihar Lok Sabha Election 2024: INDIA Bloc Seals Seat-Sharing Deal, RJD To Contest 26 Seats, Congress...

Bihar Lok Sabha Election 2024: INDIA Bloc Seals Seat-Sharing Deal, RJD To Contest 26 Seats, Congress...

Don-Turned-Politician Mukhtar Ansari's 'Hummer' Wish That Remained Unfulfilled

Don-Turned-Politician Mukhtar Ansari's 'Hummer' Wish That Remained Unfulfilled

Amit Shah's Convoy Rammed By Speeding Car In Delhi's Kemal Ataturk Marg; 1 CRPF Constable Severely...

Amit Shah's Convoy Rammed By Speeding Car In Delhi's Kemal Ataturk Marg; 1 CRPF Constable Severely...

Who Is DSP Shailendra Singh? All About Ex-Cop Who Fought Against Mulayam Govt To Invoke POTA Against...

Who Is DSP Shailendra Singh? All About Ex-Cop Who Fought Against Mulayam Govt To Invoke POTA Against...

Artificial Intelligence Should Not Be Seen As Magic Tool: PM Modi In Interaction With Bill Gates

Artificial Intelligence Should Not Be Seen As Magic Tool: PM Modi In Interaction With Bill Gates