No support for KCR outside Telangana, says Athawale
HYDERABAD: Stating that he was unaware of the fact that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has launched the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Saturday said that it did not make a difference if the TRS supremo changed the name of his party or floated a new one, “since there was no support for the TRS in any State outside of Telangana”.
Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not supporting Rao politically, Athawale said that the Centre, however, would continue to support the people of Telangana. Addressing the media during his visit to Hyderabad, Athawale said that he was a strong supporter of statehood for Telangana when he was a Republican Party of India MP from Maharashtra when K Chandrasekhar Rao launched the movement. He said that he also participated in a rally organised in Hyderabad on December 11, 2004, demanding the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
“However, my party was against the policies of KCR. My party will support the BJP in the 2023 Assembly elections in Telangana,” Athawale said. Earlier in the day, Athawale celebrated the International Day of Disabled Persons at Somajiguda Press Club with children with special needs. He said that he would write to Rao and the chief ministers of other states to form a department for disabled persons.