Form of words:
Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Tuesday participated in the opposition meeting called by the Congress – its representatives were present at the opposition meeting with the Congress for the first time since the party came to power in 2014.
The meeting was held on Monday to discuss the suspension of a dozen Rajya Sabha members from the winter session of Parliament.
The presence of TRS at the Congress-led meeting in Delhi comes at a time when Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao is targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the issues of paddy procurement in the state. The Congress is considered the main rival of the ruling party in the state.
TRS Rajya Sabha member Keshav Rao – TRS has seven members in Rajya Sabha- attended the meeting, whose participants included Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The party did not join the Congress leadership opposition meeting on Monday, but signed a joint statement condemning the suspension of lawmakers.
Speaking to ThePrint, Keshav Rao highlighted his presence at the meeting, saying that it was an opposition meeting and not a Congress-led meeting.
“This is not the first time. TRS had participated in opposition meetings earlier as well and today’s meeting was also an opposition meeting,” Rao told ThePrint.
Political experts said it is still “too early” to say or speculate on the TRS’s equation with the Congress, noting that the party has always been a bigger rival on the home turf for KCR than the BJP.
Political observer Palvai Raghavendra Reddy told ThePrint, “It is still too early to interpret or understand the meeting as every move by KCR shows that the Congress is a bigger rival than the BJP.”
“Since there is an issue of paddy now in the state, which has a huge impact on the people and it is a very serious issue, he is fighting completely against the BJP. Given his current differences with the BJP, he could also have attended the meeting – just to show off.
Earlier this month, KCR, as the chief minister is widely addressed, launched a front against the Centre, targeting the Modi government. Paddy procurement crisis looming There has been a stir in the state due to the Modi government’s refusal to buy boiled rice from the state.
Telangana is demanding that the Center procure light boiled rice from the state, which is specific to the rabi season there, and also declare a target for procurement in the coming years.
tensions between the two sides, which were Once seen as “friendly” to each other, have also evolved due to the growing footprint of the BJP in Telangana.
Former MP and senior TRS leader Vinod Kumar told ThePrint that the “suspension” issue was discussed in Tuesday’s meeting. “The presence is purely for support or discussion on the Rajya Sabha suspension issue and not on any other issue,” he said.
Read also: Telangana bypolls: BJP wins Huzurabad ‘grudge match’, KCR’s former ally Eatala Rajender defeats TRS
KCR’s efforts for ‘Third Front’
KCR, for the past three years, has been making a pitch for a “third front” or “federal front” – which would be a non bjp, non congress party, As part of these efforts, the Chief Minister also met her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in 2018.
He also met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, but nothing happened. In 2019, he again introduced the idea of just an “anti-BJP” front, hinting that it may not be completely “non-Congress”.
After the 2018 assembly elections in Telangana, a dozen Congress MLAs left the ruling party, stripping the former chief opposition status in the state. Congress so far only six legislators in the state.
Congress is hoping for revival with the appointment of MP Revanth Reddy new chief in Telangana.
Meanwhile, the BJP is slowly going up the ladder And trying to replace Congress as the main opposition. The party defeated TRS in two by-elections and also made great progress in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections last year. On November 2, TRS lost to BJP in Huzurabad by-election.
The BJP, which arithmetically still has no competition for the ruling party, has around three MLAs and four MPs from the state, including Union Minister of State Kishan Reddy.
(Edited by Paramita Ghosh)
Read also: Telangana may stop production of boiled rice: crisis for lakhs of farmers, KCR-BJP trade blame
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