Telangana polls: As Naidu gets closer to Congress, TRS set to play insider-outsider card

Hyderabad, Nov 2: Ahead of the Telangana assembly elections 2018, the insider-outsider issue is likely to play out. The TRS in particular has decided to rake up this issue to corner Chandrababu Naidu, whose TDP is contesting the elections in an alliance with the Congress.

Caretaker minister and TRS leader, Harish Rao said that there was no discord between the people of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. He was however quick to add that the objection was only to the leaders from AP, who were posing a threat to the identity of Telangana.

The people of Telangana will not accept the fact that the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Uttam Kumar Reddy would be reporting to Naidu in AP Bhavan. He said that the TRS would soon release letters written by the martyrs of the Telangana agitation.

This would help in explaining to the people of Telangana what the opinion of the matrys were about Naidu. It may be recalled that Naidu had strongly opposed the creation of a separate Telangana state.

The Congress on the other hand was a divided house on the issue. While the Congress leaders from Telangana supported a separate state, those from Seema-Andhra had vehemently opposed it.

According to leading psephologist Dr. Sandeep Shastri, the TRS continues to hold the edge in the state. It is the newest India and let us remember that it is the first formal election in Telangana, he says.

It appears to me that the TRS has a distinct advantage and the hallow over its leadership which for the state is still there. Secondly, TRS has not done anything dramatically bad in the five years to inviter the wrath of the voter, Dr. Shastri says. What I get to see is that the TRS still enjoys a reasonably high popularity wave.

Dr. Shastri however points that the the Congress and the BJP are fighting for the second position in Telangana. This is important considering both are eyeing for the second and not the first position. Both the parties are looking at it from the view point of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in terms of positioning themselves as the main opposition. I feel that both are fighting so that they can emerge as the number 2 party in the state. Either do not believe that they can come to power. This is in fact working well in the advantage of the TRS, which for me as of now looks like the comfortable winner, Dr Shastri also adds.

Telangana votes on December 7 and counting of votes will take place on December 11. There are 119 seats in total and the magic number is 60.