Hyderabad: The Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was said to be taking steps to launch a new national-level political party. KCR who is known for his shrewd political moves was negotiating with like-minded political parties on the issue of announcing a national party. However, he is now closely assessing the ground situation in Telangana.
According to some TRS sources, KCR was in frequent talks with some party leaders and had also hired some survey agencies and was in close consultation with its political strategist.
But party leaders say winning assembly elections for the third consecutive term is more important than starting a national party.
The party feels that, unlike in the past two elections, it will have to make more efforts to win the Assembly elections as the anti-incumbency wave is on the rise and the opposition BJP and Congress are trying to make inroads in the TRS stronghold.
The BJP is all set to hold its national executive in Hyderabad and the Congress has acquired some clout in districts like Nalgonda and Khammam. Add to it, the TRS is facing internal strife in some districts.
In such a situation, it is imperative for the TRS to retain power in the state and then launch a national-level party.
Initially, it was felt that KCR could launch the national party in the second half of July. But now KCR wants to ensure that TRS retains power even with some decline in the majority.
According to TRS leaders, the ground report shows that the Congress party is able to make some inroads and bring the Reddy community together, especially in districts like Nalgonda and Khammam.
The BJP is focusing fully on campaigning at booth-level committees and door-to-door. Sources claim that there is speculation in the political corridors that elections will be held soon.
The announcement by the central government to launch the Agnipath scheme and the way the Congress party is trying to turn it into an election issue is also a matter of concern for TRS.
In these circumstances, the TRS chief has consigned the plan for a national party to the cold storage to focus on winning the Assembly election for the third consecutive term.
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