Giving a death blow to the hopes of Congress in the Telangana region, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday categorically ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the Congress party.
“There will not be any electoral alliance with Congress. let’s see if TRS MlAs will join the Congress or the reverse will happen,” Rao said, addressing his party workers at the Telangana Bhavan here.
Congress, which seeks credit for the role the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre played in carving a new State out of Andhra Pradesh, has been seeking at least an alliance after TRS ruled out a merger with it. There are 17 lok Sabha seats in Telangana whose Assembly strength is 117.
Addressing a Press conference after the election committee meeting of his party, KCR said that his party decided not to merge with the Congress in accordance with the aspirations of the people. “The people wanted the TRS to retain its identity as they feel that the work was not over with mere formation of Telangana State.”
The people want the TRS to complete the mission by working to rebuild Telangana and keep the reins of the State in its hands, he said.
lashing out at the Congress for delay in carving a new State, Rao held it responsible for the spate of suicides by Telangana students. “Those who laid down their lives for the sake of Telangana blamed the Congress leaders in their suicide notes,” he said.
He ridiculed the announcement of the Congress leaders that they will field the family members of Telangana martyrs. “The Congress party which kept mum over the suicides and now talking of giving tickets to their kin is laughable,” he said.
KCR announced that his party will release the first list of candidates for the Assembly and lok Sabha elections in a couple of days and all the candidates will be announced in three phases. Saturday’s meeting of the election committee discussed the names of the candidates for the civic bodies as well as the panchayat elections.
KCR, who was angry with the claims of some Congress leaders that many TRS MlAs were willing to join the Congress party, said, “let us see whether TRS MlAS join Congress or Congress MlAs come to the TRS.”
Rejecting claims of the Congress that he had offered to merge TRS with it, KCR said, “When the Telangana youths were committing suicide, I offered to merge so Congress agrees to our demand and the suicides stop.”
He predicted that the next government at the Centre would be a coalition of regional parties. “If the TRS wins all the 16 lok Seats in the region, then it will control the wheel at the Centre and get all the pending work in Telangana State done.” He appealed to the people to give full support to the TRS in the elections so it could get maximum benefits for the new State.