Unable to transform itself into a party with pan-Telangana presence, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is wooing ‘strong’ leaders from the Congress and the TDP with mass base to plug its weaknesses, particularly in south Telangana districts where it is considered weak.
With its earlier plans of alliance with the Congress being ruled out now, the TRS leadership is making strategic moves now to utilise the opportunity arising out of the increasing demand for the ruling party tickets to wean away its popular leaders.
It is of the view that those who would not get accommodated “properly” in Congress could come to it as their second choice.
However, the party’s efforts to attract Congress leaders with a good following has yielded no result so far, though it has succeeded in reinforcing the organisation in Adilabad, Ranga Reddy and Mahabubnagar districts where it is perceived to be on a weak wicket in the recent months by wooing TDP leaders.
“It could have been a win-win situation for both TRS and Congress had an alliance was worked out, but it has reached a point of no return now. I was the only one who spoke for the tie-up in the recent executive meeting of the party, but in vain,” a senior TRS leader told The Hindu .
“We know that joining of leaders from other parties will cause heartburn . But, the fact remains that most of our constituency in-charges in districts are not capable of wooing voters in spite of our role in achieving Telangana due to lack of organisational strength,” a politburo member considered close to party president K. Chandrasekhar Rao said.
Despite all its efforts, the TRS has failed to attract any top leader from Medak, Nalgonda and Khammam districts except Jalagam Venkata Rao who joined the party a couple of days ago. Sources feel that the leadership is trying its best to woo Komatireddy brothers -- Venkat Reddy and Rajagopal Reddy – from Nalgonda district.
