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TRS protest on ED questioning Sonia Gandhi stumps Telangana Congress
The decision of the TRS to join hands with the other opposition parties to protest against the questioning of Sonia Gandhi by ED in the National Herald case caught the Telangana Congress in an embarrassing situation
Hyderabad: The decision of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi to join hands with the other opposition parties to protest against the questioning of Congress president Sonia Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald case on Thursday caught the Telangana Congress in an embarrassing situation.
TRS parliamentary party leader K Keshava Rao, along with two other MPs – Nama Nageshwara Rao and J Santosh Kumar -- attended a meeting convened by Congress party flood leader in Rajya Sabha Mallikharjun Kharge to discuss a joint strategy to protest against the harassment of Sonia Gandhi by the Bharatiya Janata Party government by alleged misuse of the central investigation agencies.
Keshava Rao was also a signatory to the joint statement of the opposition parties condemning the questioning of Sonia Gandhi by the ED authorities
The development came at a time when the Telangana Congress leaders led by Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy held massive protests at Necklace Road in Hyderabad. Reddy led a rally from Indira Gandhi statue on Necklace Road to the ED’s regional office in Basheerbagh, where they sat on a dharna to condemn the alleged political witch-hunt of Sonia Gandhi by the Modi government.
The Congress has been the front-runner to wrest power from the TRS in the next assembly elections in Telangana. The PCC president has been aggressively attacking the TRS government led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. The party is also gearing up for holding a big public meeting to be addressed by by Rahul Gandhi at Siricilla, the constituency of KCR’s son and TRS working president K T Rama Rao, on August 2.
Against this backdrop, the solidarity extended by the TRS to Sonia Gandhi has come as a big embarrassment to the Congress in Telangana. “Whatever might be the reason for the TRS to join hands with the other opposition parties in support of Sonia Gandhi, it has put the Congress in Telangana on the back foot, as it will give an opportunity to the BJP to campaign that the Congress and the TRS have an alliance,” a senior Congress leader said on condition of anonymity.
All India Congress Committee official spokesman Dasoju Sravan, however, said it wouldn’t have much impact on the party in Telangana. “First of all, any party that opposes the anti-democratic policies of the Modi government will have to oppose the witch-hunt of Sonia Gandhi. Secondly, KCR also might be apprehensive that tomorrow, it might be his turn to face the ED and the CBI; and he needs the support of the other opposition parties. Hence, he might have decided to extend support to Sonia,” Sravan said.
Telangana BJP official spokesman K Krishnasagar Rao said the TRS extending support to the Congress protest is a visible sign of a Congress-TRS electoral alliance in the near future.
“KCR is inching closer to the Congress by not losing any opportunity to align with his former ally. As the Congress has very less options both regionally and at the national level, it would be eager to find a partner like the TRS to sail through the next election cycles,” he said.
Rao said the BJP strongly believed that a TRS-Congress alliance was a possibility by the time state assembly elections are notified.
TRS parliamentary party leader Kesava Rao could not be reached for reaction despite repeated attempts.
Meanwhile, mild tension prevailed for a while at Basheerbagh when Youth Congress workers set ablaze a scooter while staging a protest at the ED office. The police put out the fire and brought the situation under control.
