It has now been certain that Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader Eatala Rajender, who has been sacked from the K Chandrasekhara Rao cabinet over allegations of land grabbing a couple of days ago, will be out of the party anytime.
Eatala himself has hinted at this to the media before leaving for his native constituency Huzurababad on Monday evening with a big convoy of cars belonging to his followers and supporters. He might put in his papers shortly.
What are the options before Eatala now, if he wants to sustain his political career?
He has already made it clear that there are no plans whatsoever for him to launch a new political party, at least for now, though he might consider it at a later date.
At the same time, Eatala might not also take any immediate decision to jump into any other political party right now.
The position of the Congress party in Telangana is pretty bad and the chances of its resurrection in the near future are very bleak.
The party, which suffered a huge loss across the country in the recent elections, might not have time to focus on Telangana.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, too, is not in a happy position in Telangana, after its loss in the MLC elections as well as the Nagarjunasagar assembly by-elections, besides the elections to five municipalities and two corporations.
Yet, both the Congress and the BJP seem to be laying a bait for Eatala to bring him into their respective parties.
The way Pradesh Congress Committee working president A Revanth Reddy came to the defence of Eatala in the Devarayamzal lands issue and BJP state president Bandi Sanjay playing the BC card to support Eatala are clear indications to this.
There is a talk emerging in the media circles in Telangana that Eatala might join hands with Revanth Reddy to float a bigger regional outfit to consolidate the Reddy and BC vote banks and build up a movement against the family rule of KCR.
But it is possible only when Revanth Reddy quits the Congress, which happens only if he is not given the PCC chief post or any other important position. In that case, Eatala has to choose his own path.
Sources said Eatala might not go with the BJP as he doesn’t gel with the saffron leaders in Karimnagar or Huzurabad.
“If he cannot float his own party, Eatala might be left with no option but to join the Congress,” an analyst said.