TRS national debut takes Telangana to mainstream

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) formally leapfrogged into the national mainstream today with a political rally at the Ramlila grounds, in...

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) formally leapfrogged into the national mainstream today with a political rally at the Ramlila grounds, inauguration of a spanking new office in the heart of the power centre of Lutyen’s Delhi and the magical appearance of a secretarait of party officials.

The TRS (founded in 2000) carries on the struggle (started in the mid-50s but abandoned a decade later) for a separate state of Telangana out of the ‘‘illegal, immoral and undemocratic larger state of Andhra Pradesh’’.

Ironically, the party, which is in direct conflict with the ‘‘hegemonic’’ Telugu Desam Party, is an ally of the BJP which is also an ally of the TDP in the state and Centre. While the TDP is vehemently opposed to carving out a Telangana state, the TRS has strategically aligned with the BJP for its electoral slogan, ‘‘One vote, two states’’.

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It is another matter that the BJP has maintained complete silence on Telangana ever since the 1999 Assembly polls. Even today, the TRS’s request to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, Deputy PM L.K. Advani, Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi and President A.P.J. Kalam has not been considered. But this had hardly deterred the enthusiasm of hundreds of TRS followers who arrived by jeeps and trains to attend the rally.

Leaders like Lok Janashakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, his colleague Arif Mohammed Khan and JMM chief Sibu Soren spearheaded the rally.

TDP sources say the TRS was formed to take a swipe at the TDP’s clout. Neither is the TRS coy about its cosy relations with the BJP. Its chairman A. Narendra is a BJP member. The TRS’s new office is located in his official residence. And the BJP has timed its promise of delivery of a Telangana state at the most opportune moment — 2004, the year general elections will be held.