HYDERABAD: The ‘love-hate’ relationship between the TRS and BJP was in full display in both Houses of Parliament on Thursday. Even as the Rajya Sabha members of TRS supported the BJP-led NDA candidate in the election of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman, the party’s Lok Sabha members raised transfer of defence lands in Hyderabad and accused the Centre of adopting step-motherly treatment to Telangana. Thus, the pink party adopted diametrically opposite stand in the Lower and Upper Houses on the same day. The harsh stand in the Lok Sabha is viewed as nullifying the soft stand on BJP taken in the Rajya Sabha.
TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is pushing his third front idea aggressively to maintain equi-distance from the Congress and the BJP, and the TRS is treading a cautious path sending a message that the TRS is not supporting the BJP and any support is issue-based.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, AP Jithender Reddy said, “We have been running from pillar to post for the last three years for transfer of defence land to the state but to no avail. Why this step-motherly treatment to Telangana? Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao urged the Defence Minister several times and also met the Prime Minister seeking Bison Polo and Gymkhana lands for constructing a new Secretariat building. The existing building has become a “pigeon hole”. “The land was also needed for strategic road development projects on National Highway-44 and State Highway-1,” he said.
Nitish Kumar thanks kcr for support
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar called Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday and thanked him for supporting their candidate in the RS deputy chairman’s poll. Rao congratulated Nitish on the victory of his party candidate.
“We were asked by the then defence minister Arun Jaitley to transfer compensatory land measuring 596 acres and pay the differential cost of `95 crore in exchange for Bison Polo land and the state government agreed. But, even after three years, there is no progress on the matter. The Cantonment Board wanted the State government to pay `31 crore to compensate loss of revenue from property tax,” Reddy said.
“Since then the proposal has been pending. It is very saddening to note that 210 acres of defence land was transferred to the Karnataka government recently within a short span of time.”
“We have been running from pillar to post for three years for transfer of land but to no avail. We would like to know why this step-motherly treatment is being meted out to Telangana,” he asked and wanted the defence minister to make a statement on the issue.
“We begged for long. But now it is a demand. We want the Bison Ground land,” he said.
According to sources, the party MPs will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday and once again demand transfer of defence lands in Secunderabad to the State government.