Telangana Rashtra Samithi secretary general and Rajya Sabha member K. Keshava Rao has led the struggle for separate Telangana from the front even as a senior Congress leader, thereby incurring the wrath of the high command which resulted in denial of his re-nomination to the Upper House. A former president of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr. Rao was an open critic of P. Chidambaram for the flip-flops that the latter committed on Telangana issue as Union Home Minister. He paid a heavy price as he was dropped from Congress Working Committee. KK, as Mr. Rao is fondly called, was the target of an unruly crowd that vandalised statues on Tank Bund during the ‘Million march’ organised by pro-Telangana groups on March 10, 2011. He sat unperturbed on the bonnet of the car as it was slowly steered through missiles. After all this, he lost his Rajya Sabha membership a year later. Excerpts of an interview:
There are allegations of match-fixing in selection of candidates between the TRS and Congress. The parties have seen to it that they do not field strong candidates against each other. Your comments
There cannot be a greater lie than this. It is totally condemnable and far from truth.
AICC general secretary in-charge of State Digvijay Singh says Congress is open to post-poll alliance with TRS
It is a dignified statement coming from him. But, we are on record that TRS is open to supporting the Congress in forming a government after the polls.
In case of a hung Assembly, what will be the TRS stand
It is a hypothetical question. We will cross the bridge when it comes. But, we are absolutely sure of getting a majority in the Assembly elections. There is no doubt about it.
How many Assembly seats do you expect to win
Nearly 70 seats.
How do you justify giving tickets to a dozen MLAs of Telugu Desam though the party was opposed to separate Telangana
We are not insulated from people. Whoever wants to participate in our programme of reconstructing Telangana is welcome.
How could TRS not attract Congress leaders except Manda Jagannatham and a couple of others
The reason is obvious. Congress is our number one enemy.
There are allegations of match-fixing in selection of candidates between the TRS and Congress. The parties have seen to it that they do not field strong candidates against each other. Your comments
There cannot be a greater lie than this. It is totally condemnable and far from truth.
AICC general secretary in-charge of State Digvijay Singh says Congress is open to post-poll alliance with TRS
It is a dignified statement coming from him. But, we are on record that TRS is open to supporting the Congress in forming a government after the polls.
In case of a hung Assembly, what will be the TRS stand
It is a hypothetical question. We will cross the bridge when it comes. But, we are absolutely sure of getting a majority in the Assembly elections. There is no doubt about it.
How many Assembly seats do you expect to win
Nearly 70 seats.
How do you justify giving tickets to a dozen MLAs of Telugu Desam though the party was opposed to separate Telangana
We are not insulated from people. Whoever wants to participate in our programme of reconstructing Telangana is welcome.
How could TRS not attract Congress leaders except Manda Jagannatham and a couple of others
The reason is obvious. Congress is our number one enemy.
