HYDERABAD: Oozing confidence of a resounding victory in the Munugode Assembly bypoll, TRS working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday said that the outcome will be a good stepping stone for the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
In an informal chat with reporters, Rama Rao, however, said that the Election Commission was yet to act on the application to change the party’s name to BRS.“Work on BRS will progress once the EC approves the change of name, and the Munugode by-poll result is out,” the IT minister said, adding that the immediate plan was to establish the BRS in neighbouring States where people are already familiar with the TRS.
To a query on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comments that TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao could even float a party in China, Rama Rao wondered who was the Congress fighting against.
“When Gujarat elections are round the corner, Rahul Gandhi is not undertaking Bharat Jodo Yatra there. The Congress has to decide who is its chief rival,” he said. The TRS working president claimed that the only politician and chief minister in the country who is fighting against the policies of the Narendra Modi government was Chandrasekhar Rao.
“When the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, they approached the court. But when the same ED raids Opposition leaders, both are celebrating and deriving sadistic pleasure. The Congress should shed these double standards on ED raids,” Rama Rao opined, advising the grand old party to avoid taking an ambiguous stand.
It is pertinent to note here that Rahul had made it clear that there was no question of an electoral alliance with the TRS. Rama Rao sought to know if the Congress has a tacit understanding with Modi. “Why are you not going to Gujarat?” he asked Rahul. Stating that the Congress failed to understand ground realities, Rama Rao felt there was a political vacuum in the country.
“Rahul Gandhi is getting fit with his Bharat Jodo Yatra,” the minister mocked, suggesting that he start a “Congress Jodo Yatra” as an MP of the grand old party was in Australia at a time the Gandhi scion is touring Telangana. “One more MP of the Congress may quit the party sooner or later,” Rama Rao predicted. “We (TRS) will continue our fight against Modi. It is up to Rahul to decide on the same,” he said.
On the Congress presidential poll, Rama Rao opined that Rahul and Sonia Gandhi threw their weight behind Mallikarjun Kharge.On the alleged ‘Operation Lotus’, Rama Rao said the “original plan” of the BJP was to take the four TRS MLAs to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. After returning from Delhi, the four MLAs were supposed to join the saffron party in the presence of BJP president JP Nadda at a public meeting scheduled on October 30, he said.
“After we nabbed the Swamijis, the BJP bigwigs cancelled their public meeting. They lost their cause,” Rama Rao said. “It was the Delhi BJP’s gamble. Amit Shah’s gamble. Now, the BJP may slow its efforts to expand the party in such a manner. It may redraw its plans and use two parties that were launched at its behest in Telangana to dent the vote bank of TRS,” he said.
“If the BJP leaders had nothing to do with the poaching attempts, why did they seek the transfer of the case to the Supreme Court,” he wondered.