‘TRS Was Fully Prepared To Merge With Congress In 2014’: KTR Reveals Why That Didn’t Happen

Telangana: Former minister KT Rama Rao has revealed that in 2014, the BRS (then TRS)was "fully prepared" to merge with the Congress but abandoned the idea due to the latter's "arrogance".

File Photo of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) President K Chandrashekar Rao and former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

Source : PTI

In a recent revelation, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former Telangana minister KT Rama Rao disclosed the circumstances surrounding a potential merger between the then Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Congress back in 2014, which eventually failed to take place. For the failure of the merger, he blamed the "arrogance" and "high-handedness" of the Congress.

Speaking about the past negotiations, KTR told news agency ANI in a podcast, "In 2014, when Telangana was formed, KCR (K Chandrashekar Rao) promised Sonia Gandhi that we would merge with the Congress. We were fully prepared for it that day, but I have a strong dislike for Congress. From childhood, I have not liked that party. I was raised in an anti-Congress environment."

Rao went on to mention that he thinks all the drawbacks and flaws in the country are due to the Congress-led governments in the past, "the Congress is the root cause." He remarked that he was even willing to quit politics realising he could not see himself in the grand old party.

When asked about the terms and conditions that led to the failure of the Congress-BRS (then TRS) merger, KTR elucidated, "Terms and conditions were just that for 14 years, our party fought a lot. Our party sacrificed a lot to achieve Telangana. So, we just asked them, how many seats out of the 119 seats in Telangana would you give to our leaders? Because these leaders spent 14 years with us and faced many difficulties. We fought three governments... If the energy has to also transform and if the merger has to really yield any dividend, this has to be clearly spelled out. Congress was not willing to spell out any of these."

He remarked that Congress expected the KCR-led party to just "come in line, queue up".

Telangana: KTR Blames Opposition For Perception Against KCR

Responding to allegations regarding KCR's inaccessibility during his tenure as Telangana Chief Minister, KTR defended his father and party chief by blaming the Opposition of that time, indicating the Congress and the BJP, for creating the perception.

He highlighted the BRS government journey by pointing to growth in the state's per capita income (Rs 3,57,000) which he claimed is the highest for any state in India, green cover enhancement with 5 lakh acres of new forests added. He also highlighted the previous state government's schemes including direct assistance to farmers.

KTR blamed the alleged perception created by political opponents, stating, "If nobody can challenge your performance, if nobody can challenge the performance of your government, if nobody can challenge the development agenda, they will bring all other issues to the fore. 'KCR is tyrant, KCR is aloof, KCR is inaccessible'. I want to ask how many people in a state need to meet the Chief Minister personally. 1% of the population and less than that but to make it look like 100%, people try to meet him and he's not available, not doing larger things, he built the world's largest lift irrigation project."

"Did you know that the world's largest lift irrigation project exists in India? It's a matter of pride. Unfortunately, it is not highlighted in [Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat'], because it's not a BJP state... This is what is happening. A conspiracy was hatched to create a perception. It was quite successful, so we lost by a thin margin of 1.8," he told ANI.