Minister Eatala Rajender doesn’t expect any message from Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao now as he feels things have gone too far to be put back on track.
None of his ministerial colleagues nor a senior leader gave him a call in this hour of crisis, giving any confidence of rapprochement and his continuation in the party. “I was not even expecting support given the way the party is run but there was no decency in the entire episode created to defame me,” he said while expressing his gratitude to his followers.
The stripping of his Health portfolio much before the inquiry report was given to the CM and what he calls deliberate ‘character assassination’ in the party’s own media newspapers and channels is the final nail in the coffin.
“I will not be cowed down by these personal attacks and fight back for my honour” is what the Minister told his close confidants as he faces the lowest phase of his political career. The day after the damaging episode, he spent his time at the farm house with hundreds of his followers from his Huzurabad constituency.
They raised slogans against the government calling it a conspiracy against a tall leader from the Backward Classes. In the constituency as well there were demonstrations and effigy burning of the government in his support even as he called for calmness and wait for the investigation report.
Unprepared
Mr. Rajender was clearly not prepared for this onslaught from his own leader and he admitted it in as many words while describing it as an ‘insult’ and ‘hurting’. “The aggression with which they are behaving is not good for the party for which I contributed for 20 years,” he said.
Meanwhile, the TRS camp was silent and none of them dared to express their opinion. Ministers Talasani Srinivas Yadav and Malla Reddy and MLA Balka Suman who addressed a press conference at Telangana Bhavan did not utter a word on Eatala.
In fact, when reporters raised the issue they simply evaded and walked out saying the Chief Minister was dealing with it.
What next?
Followers of Ministers expect that the Chief Minister will call for his resignation on Sunday when the country would be busy with the election results and the intriguing developments related to it. “Whoever knows KCR well will understand that he will ensure our leader is pushed into inside pages and away from breaking news,” a close follower claimed. “There is a lot of time to think on the future course of action. We will wait.”