CPI slams KCR for aligning with NDA. TDP, Left upset over TRS support to NDA

Reacting to the TRS’ move to align with the NDA, CPI leader A B Bardhan said “I don’t think he has left us.
You media are reading too much. K Chandrasekhar Rao was invited to the rally and so he has gone. We are also committed to the Telangana state. His colleague D Raja said it was for Rao to explain whether he was still with the grand alliance or not.
But state CPI leader K Narayana said Rao was an “opportunist” and it was “unfortunate” he decided to go with the NDA.

CPM chief Prakash Karat said TRS fought the elections along with the grand alliance against the Congress and the BJP. “After the May 16 results, let us see what they will do,” he said.

CPM state secretary B V Raghavulu, however, said TRS could not realize its political goal of securing statehood for Telangana if it aligns with the NDA. “There is no point in TRS joining the NDA which will not come to power at the Centre. We still believe KCR is with the grand alliance”, said Raghavulu.

TRS MP B Vinod Kumar said in New Delhi that his party was still with the grand alliance as far as AP was concerned. “We will play a decisive role in the government formation in the state after May 16. Attending the NDA rally in Ludhiana did not mean we walked out of the grand alliance”, Kumar said. Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s open support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at its rally at Ludhiana on Sunday has left the other Grand Alliance partners, Telugu Desam and Left parties, thoroughly disappointed.

Though the TRS had made it clear that it would remain with the GA in the State, Mr. Rao’s assertion on Sunday that BJP senior leader L.K. Advani would be the next Prime Minister and that he would lobby with like-minded parties for supporting the NDA coalition has left the three GA partners shocked.

While the TDP and the CPI (M) preferred to remain cautious of Mr. Rao’s moves, the CPI was highly critical of his “opportunistic politics.” When approached by mediapersons, the TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu did not react, for the second consecutive day, on the issue but appeared unhappy.

The CPI (M) State secretary, B.V. Raghavulu, said the TRS’ decision to support the “communal BJP” was unfortunate. Several senior TDP leaders who were against any tie-up with the TRS owing to Mr. Rao’s “unpredictability” feel vindicated, but preferred not to react to the development.

Declining to comment on the developments, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu indicated that he would respond later in a “proper way” while Mr. Raghavulu said his party would wait till May 16 when election results would be declared for clarity to emerge over the stand taken by different parties.
Clarity sought

Mr. Narayana demanded that Mr. Rao clarify whether he was with the Grand Alliance or switched over to the NDA coalition. There was no scope for “riding on two horses simultaneously” as the Left parties were against any alliance with parties supporting the BJP.

Lashing out at Mr. Rao for attending the NDA rally, he said his ‘double standards’ stood exposed. The TRS’ decision to “beg” the NDA to grant a separate State, rather than continuing the political struggle, was an insult to the people of Telangana, he added.Much to the embarrassment of the grand alliance in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao on
Sunday said his party would support the BJP-led NDA at the national level to achieve the creation of a separate state.

Rao, who participated in the NDA election rally in Ludhiana on Sunday, welcomed the BJP’s announcement of carving a new state of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh within 100 days of coming to power. It was this which brought him nearer to BJP, Rao said.

Recalling how TRS had believed a similar promise by Congress in 2004 and extended support to it both at Centre and in the state, Rao said, “My party wanted to work with pro-Telangana parties in the state and at the central level. “BJP is the only national party striving for the cause of Telangana. As a regional party, TRS has no hesitation in joining hands with BJP for the cause of a separate state,” he said.

Rao, along with BJP spokesman and its Andhra Pradesh incharge Prakash Javdekhar and senior TRS leader B Vinod, arrived in Ludhiana by a chartered flight. He then met Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and other chief ministers of BJP-ruled state to discuss political developments.

After the meeting, accompanied by party ideologues Prof K Jayashankar and Vidyasagar Rao, and a 30-member TRS delegation, including party’s Lok Sabha candidates, Rado drove to Amritsar to visit the Golden Temple and pray for a separate Telangana state.

The TDP and CPM decided not to react to the developments. But state CPI leader K Narayan said Rao was an “opportunist” and it was “unfortunate” he decided to go with NDA. He said, “The grand alliance came into existence to defeat Congress and BJP and prevent both from coming to power at the Centre.”