Tough ask awaits Telugu parties

In the two Telugu states, the issue becomes interesting as all the parties — the TRS, TD and YSRC — are opposing both BJP and the Congress in public. Between them, the three Telugu parties have 14 of the 18 members in the RS.

The election for the position of the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, which is likely to be a close contest between the NDA led by the BJP and the UPA led by the Congress, will force the hand of three major Telugu regional parties, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the Telugu Desam (TD) and the YSR Congress (YSRC) into revealing which of the two national coalitions they would eventually side with.

The election has been necessitated with the incumbent Deputy Chairman of the Upper House, P.J. Kurien of the Congress, completing his term in August, before which the House must elect his successor.

The political stand of the three parties could be known by the party candidate they support, though they could decide to abstain from voting too.

The decision to vote for either national side, or abstain, is likely to be taken by the leaders of these parties just before the election.

The BJP, which has recently emerged as the single largest party in the Rajya Sabha, overtaking the Congress for the first time in Indian political history, with 67 members (including nominated members) in the 250 member House, is setting an eye on the post of the Deputy Chairman.

Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P.J. Kurien’s term will be over in August 2018.

TRS, TD and YSRC have 14 MPs in the Rajya Sabha.

The election for Kurien’s successor will force the TRS, the TD and the YSRC into revealing which of the two national coalitions they would eventually side with.

The election for the position of the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, which is likely to be a close contest between the NDA led by the BJP and the UPA led by the Congress, will force the hand of three major Telugu regional parties, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the Telugu Desam (TD) and the YSR Congress (YSRC) into revealing which of the two national coalitions they would eventually side with.

However, since neither the BJP nor the Congress have a majority, they have started the exercise of consulting other parties to get their support. The BJP leaders had discussions with the AIADMK leadership seeking their support.

In the two Telugu states, the issue becomes interesting as all the parties – the TRS, TD and YSRC – are opposing both BJP and the Congress in public. Between them, the three Telugu parties have 14 of the 18 members in the Rajya Sabha (TRS: 6, TD: 6, YSRC: 2), where the Congress has 3 and BJP a lone member.

The BJP, after losing the TD and Shiv Sena as allies of the NDA in recent months, is trying to get some new friends. The BJP national leadership may ask TRS and YSRC for their support in these elections and set a precursor to the 2019 elections.

The TRS chief and Chief Minister of Telangana, K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has expressed his interest in floating a new front, which would be both anti-BJP and anti-Congress.

He recently met and discussed the federal front with Trinamul Congress chief and Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, who, however, is likely to support the UPA candidate in the elections for the Deputy Chairman of the RS.

Mr Rao is unlikely to support the UPA candidate headed by the Congress because it is his principal rival in his state. But whether he would support the NDA candidate headed by the BJP is yet to be known. Senior TRS leaders say the party leader would take a decision at the time of election.

For the TD in Andhra Pradesh, Congress is main political enemy and owes its genesis to anti-Congressism. However, after the bifurcation of AP, the Congress has lost its relevance and ceases to be a force in any sense, and therefore poses no threat to the Telugu Desam.

There are speculations in political circles that the meeting of Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan with AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday at Vijayawada was reconcile the two parties and bring back the TD to the BJP camp.

Sources revealed that Naidu told the Governor that the Central government should grant special category status to AP and implement all assurances given to the state at the time of bifurcation before any reconciliation is possible. The Governor reportedly advised Naidu that it is not in the best interests of the people to go against the Centre.

There are speculations that the YSRC has a secret pact with the BJP, though they deny it in public.