In a major political development in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the BJP seem to be sharing a political bonhomie that is definitely going to shake the foundations of the grand coalition and come as a further boost for the Modi government and the BJP. According to sources in the TRS, the two parties have reached an understanding on post-poll alliance after the 2019 elections.
According to reports, Telangana chief minister and TRS president, K. Chandrashekhar Rao discussed the critical 2019 polls during the hour long meeting here in Delhi on Saturday. K. Chandrashekhar Rao is said to have made it clear that while a pre-poll alliance with the BJP won’t help his party, he was open to the idea of coming together with the BJP for a post-poll alliance in case BJP fell short of the requisite numbers.
KCR had met PM also in June. The two leaders have met for the second time in 50 days lending credence to the reports suggesting increasing proximity between the BJP and the TRS. This is further corroborated by the fact that the TRS abstained from voting during the no-confidence motion moved by Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu a couple of weeks ago. Thereafter, the BJP and the TRS have been warming up to each other. The bonhomie started after Chandrababu Naidu left the NDA and became an active proponent of the grand coalition. The proximity shared by the TRS and BJP became further evident when the prime minister came down severely on Naidu in his speech during the no-trust motion but praised Telangana for its development graph. While centre is yet to concede some demands of the state government, this has not hindered the political bonhomie. However, a minister in the TRS made it clear that this will not affect the closeness between the two parties and said that, “we will continue to pursue these demands. If the centre gives us what we want, it is an advantage for Telangana. If it does not, we know whom to blame.” Thus, the TRS seems quite enthusiastic about forming an alliance or at least an understanding with the BJP.
TRS however does not wish to concede space to the Bharatiya Janata Party as far as tying up for the Assembly and the Parliamentary elections are concerned. Rao is believed to have stated that Bharatiya Janata Party does not have strong candidates in Telangana and the most TRS could do was not to contest against the five BJP MLAs in the state. TRS was involved in the grand coalition but was reluctant to be a part of the coalition with Congress’ claim to lead the coalition.
The BJP looks all set to replicate the exploits of the 2014 polls. However, it is never a bad idea to enter into understandings before the elections which acts as a confidence booster for the party cadres also. An alliance between the two parties is also in the greater interest of the two parties. This might just be a major turning point before the 2019 polls.