TRS drums up 'KCR as CM' campaign - TeluguPeople.com News

Hyderabad:With TRS appearing confident of winning a comfortable majority in the elections for the Telangana Assembly, the party leaders, one after the other, are drumming up support for party president K Chandrasekhar Rao to be the first Chief Minister of the new State of Telangana. The orchestration of the demand for KCR as CM is expected to pick up in the days to come.

This campaign in favour of KCR is aimed at blunting any criticism against the TRS supremo who much before the Telangana Bill was passed in the Parliament had promised to make a Dalit first chief minister and a minorities' leader as deputy chief minister, if the Telangana dream comes true. However, subsequently, KCR changed his mind in tune with the changed circumstances.

Now a strong sect ion within the party including KCR are of the view that he alone is best suited to take up the responsibility in in view of the myriad challenges facing the new born State.

On Sunday senior TRS leader KS Ratnam who is also a Dalit, strongly batted for KCR as the CM, stating that Seemandhra leaders are still actively conspiring to continue their hegemony over Telangana.

'KCR is not interested in becoming the CM of Telangana, but it is the opinion of people of the region and a majority of TRS cadres,' Ratnam told the media.

Ratnam rebutted the criticism that KCR had backtracked on his promise to make a Dalit as the first CM of Telangana, by saying that: 'He (KCR) alone is capable of safeguarding the interests of Telangana State which needs an experienced and efficient administrator,' Ratnam explained.

Earlier, TRS secretary general K. Kesava Rao and Nomula Narasimhaiah who shifted loyalties from CPM to TRS recently and contested the elections from the Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly seat too backed KCR to be the chief minister to ensure that the promises made by the party are fulfilled and added that the party has backed him wholeheartedly.

TRS floor leader in the outgoing Assembly Etela Rajender said that it was a party decision to see KCR as the first chief minister of Telangana.

'Of course, the party will take a final decision on this issue at the meeting of newly elected legislators after the results are announced in a democratic manner. KCR would provide a popular government in Telangana,' Rajender said.

Another senior TRS functionary and Dalit leader Kadiam Srihari too batted for KCR as the chief minister as he alone can fight against the injustice done the region as the UPA government has only granted a conditional Telangana.