In a severe setback to Congress in Telangana, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) dashed its hopes of an alliance for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the region.
“There will not be any electoral alliance with Congress. Let’s see from tomorrow if TRS MLAs will join the Congress or the reverse will happen,” Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao said addressing his party workers at the Telangana Bhavan here.
KCR’s remarks appear significant amidst indication that two former women ministers were all set to quit the Congress and join the TRS in a day or two.
Congress, which seeks credit for the role of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre in the carving out of the new state out of Andhra Pradesh, has been seeking at least an alliance after TRS ruled out a merger with it
There are 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana whose assembly strength is 117.
Referring to remarks made by AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh on TRS’ refusal to merge with the Congress after the creation of Telangana, Mr. Rao attacked the Congress, asking, “They say KCR betrayed them but what was the betrayal.”
Mr. Rao said they had proposed merger of TRS with Congress to secure statehood for the region and prevent suicides by hundreds of youth.
“But now, people are against our merger and hence we are going by their wish,” he added.
He recalled that many of those who committed suicide for a separate state had named the Congress for their act.
“Now the Congress started a drama saying it will give tickets to kin of those victims in the coming elections,” he said.
