KCR magic stalls Modi wave in Telangana

HYDERABAD: In what has come as a surprise, the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) has cornered as many as 11 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, surpassing its own performance in Assembly polls.

KCR magic has worked in both North and South Telangana districts, helping the party's LS nominees win. If the Congress faced a route in Telangana despite delivering the separate state, it was, analysts say, because of lack of the initiative on the part of Congress leaders in consolidating the gains that accrued to the party after the division of the state.

TRS stole a march over the Congress, its nearest rival. KCR has won Medak Lok Sabha seat with a record margin of over 3.97 lakh votes, while his daughter K Kavitha defeated Madhu Yashki of the Congress to wrest Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat.

The party nabbed Karimnagar seat from sitting MP Ponnam Prabhakar. In the battle, TRS had to fight Ch Vidyasagara Rao of the BJP as well.

Balka Suman, who took an active part in the student movement for Telangana in Osmania University, won on TRS ticket from Peddapalle which is held by industrialist G Vivek.

Another big winner of the TRS was Kadiam Srihari, who won from Warangal with a massive majority of over 3.30 lakh votes.

The Congress could not put up much fight, as a result of which its Lok Sabha tally is limited to just two seats. That TRS could stand up to Narendra Modi's wave was significant. Said TRS leader KT Rama Rao, 'If there was one leader and one party in the entire country with the strength to stand up to Narendra Modi's wave, it was only KCR and TRS.'

Chandrasekhara Rao, aware of the fact that the BJP-TDP alliance might work because of Narednra's Modi wave that was building in the country, took an anti-NDA stand, which appears to have paid off.

Kicking off election campaign in Karimnagar, Chandrasekhara Rao said he would not join the NDA come what may since he was more concerned about communal harmony.

'In Telangana, Muslims and Hindus live like brothers. It was like Ganga Jamuna Tehjeeb,' KCR had said and pointed out that he would rather join the Third Front than having to do anything with the BJP or the NDA.

What has helped the TRS win maximum number of MP seats is because of the sustained campaign by KCR in all the Telangana districts, where he reasoned with the voters on why they should support the TRS.

He kept saying if the TRS had maximum number of MP seats, he would be in a position of strength to bargain for more funds and projects for state, which he said were the need of the hour.