HYDERABAD: TRS working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday dismissed as baseless the buzz that he would soon be stepping into the shoes of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Responding to a question at an informal interaction with the media at Telangana Bhavan, Rama Rao said: “The chief minister has said in the Assembly that he would remain the chief minister for two more terms.” “The TRS will be in power for three more terms, including the present one. I am 66 and I can continue as CM,” KTR recalled the statement made by KCR in the Assembly and said, “when the chief minister himself clarified on that, where is the need for a debate on the matter.”
'New decade belongs to TS’
On the occasion of the New Year’s day, the TRS working president took a volley of questions from the media persons which covered a wide gamut of subjects, including politics, creation of infrastructure for industries, the Centre’s Rs 102 lakh crore grandiose plan for augmenting infrastructure in the country, the launch of pharma city and ensuing municipal elections. Stating that 2020 belongs to the TRS, he said: “In 2020, the TRS will be able to win a lion’s share of civic bodies in the ensuing municipal polls. It is a beginning of new decade. The coming decade, 2020- 30 belongs to Telangana, under the leadership of KCR,” he said.
‘KCR will soon chalk out plans for municipal polls’
KT Rama Rao said that the TRS is the only party which is prepared for the municipal polls. “This week, KCR will hold a meeting to chalk out the strategy for the polls. Our aim is to effectively implement the new Municipal Act. Soon, Pattana Pragathi will be launched and it will be implemented simultaneously with Palle Pragathi,” he said. Rama Rao said that the TRS will continue to maintain friendly relations with border states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. “Even if some minor problems arise they can be resolved with understanding,” he said. As regards to Godavari waters’s diversion to Krishna basin, KTR said that the CMs of the two states will decide whether it has to be carried out together or independently. Referring to the Centre’s Rs 102 -lakh crore stimulus for infrastructure development, he said the State is waiting for finer details.
Not happy with Centre
The TRS leader said that he is unhappy that the Centre had not yet responded to the State’s plea for development of a defence industrial corridor. But the Centre, due to political reasons, set it up in Bundelkhand. If the Centre wanted to achieve $5-trillion economy, it should encourage all the states, he said. “Already, Hyderabad Pharma City acquired NIMZ status and got environmental clearance. We have acquired 10,000 acres and 2,000 more acres have to be acquired, he said. The final phase of Metro Rail from JBS to MGBS will be inaugurated by the CM, once the election code is over. The Metro train and MMTS phase-2 will be extended to the Old City, he said.
KTR holds meet with partymen on civic polls
TRS working president KT Rama Rao held a meeting with party leaders at Telangana Bhavan on Wednesday on the forthcoming municipal polls. He told workers that party president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao would convene a meeting shortly on the polls. The victories registered by the TRS in 2019 would continue in 2020 too under the able leadership of KCR, Rama Rao said.