There is one strong attribute of Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Unlike other political parties like Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress party which try to find excuses for their changing political stands fearing criticism from people, KCR does not give any excuses and takes political decisions caring a damn for his critics.
There had been a lot of criticism against him for deciding to work for a federal front. His rivals described it as an attempt to weaken the Congress party and strengthen the BJP.
His support to the Narendra Modi government in the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections and his party’s absence in Lok Sabha during the no-confidence motion also kicked up a lot of controversy, but KCR did not bother about any criticism.
And now, in the latest elections to the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman post, he openly supported the NDA candidate thereby sending enough signals that the TRS is going to be part of the NDA, if required, in the post-poll scenario.
This time, however, the TRS has shown an excuse to support the NDA directly.
When confronted with the question as to whether the TRS decision would amount to joining hands with the BJP, party general secretary and Rajya Sabha member K Kesava Rao said on Friday that his party had voted for Janata Dal (U) candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh only because JD (U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had personally called KCR and requested his party’s support in the RS deputy chairman elections.
“We did not receive any such call from Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Nor was there any request from the party as a whole. No Congress leader approached us. Not only us, they did not bother to make a request to even Aam Admi Party and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal,” Kesava Rao pointed out.
Everybody knows KCR would not have taken the calls even if Rahul Gandhi or for that matter Sonia Gandhi telephoned him and requested his party’s support in the RS deputy chairman polls.
Even during the Presidential elections, the TRS chief refused to accept calls from UPA candidate Meira Kumar nor did he give appointment to her to meet him, notwithstanding the fact that it was Meira Kumar who had ensured smooth passage of Telangana formation bill.
Yet, the TRS could find an excuse to defend its decision. But if not getting any calls from the Congress was the only reason, the TRS would have stayed neutral or abstained from voting as was done by AAP or YSR Congress party. But it chose to vote for the NDA candidate!