KCR to knit federal front; son gets TRS grip

The call of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to cadre is loud and clear.

The TRS chief wants partymen to win 16 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats in the ensuing general elections so that the TRS can play a key role in deciding who will be ruling the nation in 2019.

The TRS ally AIMIM, which is headed by Asaduddin Owaisi, has one seat in the Lok Sabha.

While KCR assured few sitting MPs including daughter K Kavitha (Nizamabad), B Vinod Kumar (Karimnagar), Jitender Reddy (Mahbubnagar), Nagesh (Adilabad), Bura Narsaiah Goud (Bhongiri), Ajmera Seetaram Naik (Mahbubabad), and B B Patil (Zaheerabad) that they will be nominated again, there is a speculation with regard to Khammam, Malkajigiri, Secunderabad, and Chevella seats.

In 2014, the TRS had won 11 seats. But the number increased to 14 after three MPs Srinivasa Reddy (Khammam), Gutha Sukhender Reddy (Nalgonda) and C Malla Reddy (Malkajigiri) from Opposition parties joined the TRS.

“The numbers we had in 2014 were not effective enough on the floor of the house in New Delhi. We need to improve so that we can force the Centre to grant the assurances given in the bifurcation Act,” KCR said.

The Federal Front

KCR is planning to give more time for forging a non-BJP, non-Congress Front that he is envisaging after his son K Taraka Rama Rao (KTR) was appointed as party working president recently.

KCR will be meeting Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on December 24.

He has already met Mamta Banerjee, former PM Deve Gowda and DMK chief Stalin about his Federal Front. He has also roped in actor Prakash Raj to play an important role in securing the support of political parties from southern states.

“We will also continue our talks with the Samajwadi and Bahujan Samaj Party for forging the front. It is a collective bargain if regional parties that are strong in their respective states join hands against the Congress and the BJP,” B Vinod Kumar, TRS deputy floor leader in Lok Sabha, said.

However, Opposition parties in Telangana suspect that the TRS is close to the BJP and its plan to win all the Lok Sabha seats is only to help the NDA to come back to power. They are highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's praise for KCR in the Lok Sabha during a no-confidence motion introduced by the Telugu Desam Party.