Headstart for TRS for LS polls after thumping win in assembly

Hyderabad: Having scored a thumping win in the December 7 Assembly elections, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is expected to get a head start in the next year's Lok Sabha elections.

On the other hand, it will be an uphill task for the Congress, TDP, BJP and other parties to get their act together as the Lok Sabha polls come close on the heels of their humiliating defeat in the the state's assembly polls.

TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao's clever move to go for early assembly polls, delinking them with Lok Sabha elections to avoid the situation of 'Modi vs Rahul Gandhi', is expected to help him in a big way as he can now focus on the national elections without worrying about state polls.

It is anybody's guess whether Rao would go in for the kill to win the highest number of Lok Sabha seats as he declared Tuesday that the Assembly poll results would enable the TRS to play a crucial role in national politics.

Hinting at a role at the national level, Rao said he would give a "new definition" to the national political scenario. During the recent election campaign, Rao had asked voters to ensure victory of TRS in all the seats in Lok Sabha elections so as to fight for the party's promise of increase in reservations for Scheduled Tribes and Muslims.

The Telangana Assembly had passed resolutions last year seeking a hike in quotas for STs and Muslims and the matter has been pending with the Centre ever since.

Rao is expected to urge the voters to make TRS victorious in the Lok Sabha elections so that it can fight in the best interests of the state.

Rao's son K T Rama Rao, considered number two in the TRS, had also said during the campaigning that Telangana should realise its rights from the Centre "not by begging, but by dictating".

In the Lok Sabha elections, TRS would have the advantage of being in power. The presence of party MLAs in the Lok Sabha constituencies would also help the party. The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has been an ally of TRS and the friendship between the two parties could help TRS get Muslim votes.

On the other hand, the main opposition Congress faces a litmus test in Telangana as the national party aims to return to power at the Centre in 2019.