While other political parties are merely discussing early general elections, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao is already busy selecting the ‘right’ candidates for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. He wants to win 15 Lok Sabha and 110 Assembly seats in next elections.
Chandrasekhar Rao is understood to have come to the conclusion that the Congress would not resolve the Telangana issue in the coming days.
After his experience of 12 years leading the Telangana movement, KCR believes that the TRS would emerge as the single largest party in the Telangana region by wining 15 Lok Sabha seats and he would be able to play a key role in Parliament, forcing the Central government to declare a road map for the creation of Telangana state.
For the last several months, the TRS chief preferred to stay in his farm house and concentrated on the selection of candidates. His family members KT Rama Rao, T Harish Rao and Kavitha, and TRS legislature party leader E Rajender are reportedly helping him with the selection.
They have have reportedly submitted lists of candidates, and the TRS chief is going through them to zero in on the right candidates.
The TRS strongly believes that several Congress MPs will join the pink party as KCR has begun selection of candidates. KCR has already indicated to C Kanaka Reddy, who joined TRS recently, that he would be fielded from Malkajgiri Assembly constituency. He has also selected former MP KR Suresh Reddy for Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat. He gave the green signal to new faces for Kamareddy and Station Ghanpur Assembly constituencies, where TRS has sitting MLAs, Gampa Govardhan and T Rajaiah. KCR is also reportedly searching for a new face for Dubbaka Assembly constituency, from where former MLA S Ramalinga Reddy contested in 2009.
However several senior leaders are expressing displeasure over the way the TRS chief is going about the selection of candidates.
They are apprehensive that they will not get party nomination in the next elections.
“Last time too, KCR selected candidates secretly. If there is a repeat of the same, it would damage the prospects of the party,” said a TRS leader.