TRS fuels Chandrababu Naidu fear

TRS fuels Chandrababu Naidu fear

New Delhi : K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s switchover to the NDA, for whom he campaigned in Amritsar today, could hurt the Left-backed third front more in Andhra Pradesh than in Delhi. Left leaders are worried whether key Andhra ally Chandrababu Naidu might now be tempted to do a Rao, although there has so far been no concrete indication of that happening. The problem for Naidu is, his hopes of becoming chief minister have been dealt a blow by Rao’s somersault. In the Assembly polls held together with the Lok Sabha elections in Andhra on April 16 and 23, a “grand Opposition alliance” of the Telugu Desam, Rao’s Telengana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the Left took on the ruling Congress. The TRS contested from 48 of the 294 Assembly constituencies, and the seats it wins would be crucial to the alliance’s chances of coming to power in Hyderabad. Although TRS sources have suggested the possibility of “being part of the alliance in the state and supporting the NDA at the Centre”, the Left is likely to find this unpalatable. In such a situation, if the Telugu Desam cannot form the government in Andhra, it may be tempted to return to the NDA, especially since the Congress is its biggest enemy in the state. Rao’s switchover, which he announced at the NDA’s Ludhiana rally yesterday, may also cost the third front four or five seats at the Centre. The TRS has contested nine Lok Sabha seats. Sources said CPI leader Sudhakar Reddy had received a hint about Rao’s plans and had been trying to reach him for three days, but couldn’t get through to him. TRS leaders apparently kept telling Reddy that Rao had travelled to Punjab “on an invitation from (Parkash Singh) Badal”, the Akali Dal chief minister.