LS polls: TRS, Congress step up campaign

Hyderabad: With the process of filing nominations coming to a close, the ruling TRS and Congress in Telangana Wednesday got into campaign mode with their key leaders hitting the streets. TRS working president K T Rama Rao, son of party president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, kicked off his campaign Wednesday which would go on till April 9, the last day for canvassing. Telangana goes to the polls in the first phase on April 11.

Addressing a campaign rally in support of TRS nominee in Karimnagar B Vinod Kumar, Rama Rao claimed that a Congress victory would help its president Rahul Gandhi, while a win for BJP would help Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But, Telangana would benefit if TRS wins the Lok Sabha seats in the state, he claimed.

TRS should win 16 Lok Sabha seats out of the total 17 seats (leaving Hyderabad held by TRS ally AIMIM's president Asaduddin Owaisi), he said. The strength of TRS would not remain 16 as another 150 Lok Sabha MPs can join forces with the party, he said. "You will ask how they (150 MPs) will add to our strength? There are about 10-15 regional parties like TRS who do not like Congress and BJP. Mamata Banerjee is there in West Bengal.

Naveen Patnaik is there in Orissa. "... Mayawati ji is there in Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party is also there in Uttar Pradesh. In the same way, Jagan Mohan Reddy is there in Andhra Pradesh. There are many like this in the country," Rama Rao said. Saying the TRS is the own party of Telangana people, he asked why should people have to "submit applications" to other parties (after making them victorious in elections) when they can repose the responsibility of "giving a direction to the country if need be" to TRS chief Chandrasekhar Rao.

Claiming that neither the NDA nor UPA would be in a position to form the government on its own after the Lok Sabha elections, Rama Rao has been saying that TRS can play a key role at the Centre and ensure a better deal for Telangana if it wins 16 seats. Meanwhile, state Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who is contesting from Nalgonda, addressed an election meeting in the constituency.

Addressing a gathering on Wednesday, Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that TRS has not done anything substantial for Telangana though it had 16 MPs on its side in the outgoing Lok Sabha. While TRS had won 11 Lok Sabha seats in 2014, three other MPs had switched over to the TRS. One MP each of AIMIM and BJP also supported the party, he claimed.

How would TRS influence national politics with 16 MPs when the total number of MPs is 542, he asked. The Congress is going it alone in the polls. Meanwhile, Congress nominee from Bhongir Komatireddy Venkat Reddy met Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) president M Kodandaram and sought his support. TJS, contesting only three seats in Lok Sabha polls, has already announced its support to the Congress in constituencies where the TJS has not fielded candidates. Senior Congress leader T Jeevan Reddy, who was elected Wednesday to the Legislative Council, alleged the state's debt has reached Rs 1.80 lakh crore under the TRS rule.