The Mahakutami or grand alliance of opposition parties seems to be rattling the Telangana Rashtra Samiti.
The party leadership seems to think that the welfare schemes and development programmes of the past four years are not enough to ensure victory, but the much-famed ‘Telangana sentiment’ could do the trick.
All the key, TRS leaders have taken to raking up ‘Telangana sentiment’ by warning voters that ‘Seemandhra rule’ will come back to Telangana if the Mahakutami, which includes the Telugu Desam, comes to power in the state.
The TRS government’s welfare schemes, irrigation projects, Mission Bhagiratha and Kaleshwaram have taken a backseat in the party’s campaigning. All its leaders starting from party president K. Chandrasekhar Rao to ministers K.T. Rama Rao, T. Harish Rao and MP K. Kavitha have focused their campaigns around ‘Andhra party, Telugu Desam, and AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.’
[highlight_text]They have projected the Assembly polls as a battle between Mr Naidu and the TRS, with no mention of the Congress.[/highlight_text]
The three top leaders of the TRS, on Monday, tried to convey a single message to Telangana voters that — Telangana’s self-respect, pride, dignity and identity will be at the feet of Mr Naidu and Seemandhra leaders if the Mahakutami wins.