KCR's Conundrum: TRS Chief Undecided on Attending Mamata's Meet, Focus on Formation of 'National Party'

Argonau

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posted on 2 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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The Telangana chief minister chaired a meeting with top leaders of the TRS at Pragathi Bhavan on Sunday, with poll strategist Prashant Kishor in attendance

With Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee calling an all-party meeting, barring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ahead of the upcoming presidential elections on June 15, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrashekar Rao has been in a dilemma, say sources.

The Telangana chief minister is focusing on the formation of a national executive body for the “new party” he has announced for the national level, tentatively named Bharat Rajya or Bharat Rashtriya Samithi (BRS). Accordingly, he chaired a meeting with top leaders of the TRS at Pragathi Bhavan on Sunday. The appointment of party spokespersons, co-coordinators, and representatives to various states was discussed, with poll strategist Prashant Kishor in attendance. KCR has already prepared the grounds for the announcement of the new party in the third week of this month. Proposals were readied to make a unanimous resolution in this regard on June 19.

According to party sources, the TRS chief wishes to appoint three to four spokespersons for the new party in Delhi. The names of two TRS MPs, three MLAs, former MPs from other states, retired IAS and IPS officers, retired officers from central services, and some political leaders have been discussed in this regard, they said.

Leaders from various states spoke with the TRS chief on the phone after learning about the developments, said the sources. KCR also prepared a list of the leaders from various states and enquired about them to Prashant Kishor, they added.

The TRS chief, said the sources, also discussed the invitation received from Mamata Banerjee for the all-party meeting on June 15 with Kishor and others. According to the party sources, some of the leaders opined that as the Congress was also invited by Mamata, attending the meeting would send the wrong message to the public. Other leaders said that not showing up would allow rivals of the TRS to say that it was favouring the BJP.

Sources said that the meeting left the decision to the TRS chief. Former MP Vundavalli Arun Kumar, meanwhile, met the chief minister at Pragathi Bhavan on Sunday. According to party sources, he shared his views with KCR on the formation of the new party.

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