Express News Service
HYDERABAD: The results of Karnataka Assembly election have some thing to cheer about and some other thing to worry about for the ruling party in Telangana. While the TRS may relish the defeat of the Congress, its main political rival here, Janata Dal (Secular) leadership’s decision to rely on the support of the Congress to form government in Karnataka could dampen TRS chief K.Chandrasekhar Rao’s enthusiasm to form a non-Congress and non-BJP political front at the national level.
TRS leaders are happy that the Congress failed to emerge as the single largest party in Karnataka. Had the grand-old party won the Karnataka election, it would have boosted the morale of the Congress in Telangana which will go to polls next year. “A victory in the Karnataka polls would have given the much-needed impetus to the Congress in Telangana.
Further, had the Congress retained power in Karnataka, its leaders would have intensified their campaign against the KCR government with renewed vigour. With their party biting the dust in Karnataka, Congress leaders in TS have been pushed into a defensive mode. Now, their party high command’s concentration will be more on setting their house in order than on attacking the TRS government,” a TRS leader said.
But that is not all. JD (S) president HD Kumaraswamy’s decision to take the support of Congress to form government has sent clear signals that JD(S) will sail with the Congress-led UPA in the next general election. For the TRS, this development is hard to assimilate as the party boss and chief minister KCR had gone all the way to Bengaluru recently to meet JD (S) national president Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy to seek their cooperation in forming a third front.
Party leaders said KCR’s call to Telugu-speaking voters in Karnataka had helped JD(s) win considerable number of seats. “KCR’s call to Telugu voters to vote for the JD(S) helped Deve Gowda’s party win a good number of seats,” TRS MP Balka Suman commented.
‘BJP copied our schemes’
TRS attributed BJP’s good performance in Karnataka Assembly polls to TS-type welfare schemes included in the saffron party’s manifesto. Irrigation minister T Harish Rao said the BJP copied all welfare schemes of the TRS government in its Karnataka manifesto.
