KTR to attend Yashwant Sinha's nomination, but why?

HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president K T Rama Rao will represent the party at the nomination of the Opposition candidate for the presidency Yashwant Sinha.

After dodging for a few days without providing clarity on who he would support for the President of India, Telangana Chief Minister decided to send the working president of the party and Minister KTR to represent the party there.

Initially it was speculated that secretary-general of the party and TRSPP leader K Keshav Rao would be asked to be present there. Later, it was said that TRS floor leader in Lok Sabha Nama Nageswara Rao would be asked to deputise for the party at presidential nomination of Sinha.

However, the decision changed — surely not suddenly. Why KTR now?

Without making it appear too obvious, KTR demonstrates his 'sui generis' political maturity almost on all occasions.

The politically-astute KCR seems to have attached more importance to lending credence to his anti-BJP stand at this point in time, hence the deputation of KTR.

KTR left for Delhi on Sunday. TRS parliamentary leader Nama Nageswara Rao, MPs Ranjit Reddy, Suresh Reddy, BB Patil, Venkatesh Netha and K Prabhakar Reddy would be present in the nomination program along with KTR.

KCR has lately been dabbling with the idea of launching a national party as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress.

In fact, he refused to attend the opposition parties meet convened by Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the pretext that he would not be part of any conglomerate that had the Congress as a party to it.

However, Nationalist Congress Party supremo and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar consulted and convinced KCR that he must be part of the Opposition group. In fact, Sharad Pawar had asserted that any Opposition group without KCR was "incomplete".

Keeping the future equations and his own plans to launch a national alternative in view, KCR seemed to have struck a middle ground and for now decided to sail with the Opposition group, in spite of the presence of the Congress in it.

Deputing KTR assumes significance owing to KCR's serious overtures towards his national party aspirations.

KTR, a leader who can easily convince and manoeuvre any situation to his advantage, will have a brush with a clutch of Opposition titans and regional satraps at one place, though he had met them individually earlier.

KTR, as a person and a politico ,would understand firsthand how the anti-BJP forces were poised towards KCR's "future" plans and ideas.

The young minister in Telangana Cabinet catapulted to the pole position in national politics when he took on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a pertinent issue like BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's sensitive "uncalled-for remarks" that evoked global backlash. At a time when all other tall national leaders remained mute spectators, his attack on the Prime Minister shed the spotlight on KTR nationally and many seniors had to follow suit.

KTR is not mincing words when launching a diatribe against the BJP and the Prime Minister when it comes to political posturing in the recent times. He hogged the limelight when he went sought to know why should the sovereign India "kneel down in front of international community for the sins of BJP spokespersons." However, he doesn't hesitate to maintain a 'professional cordiality' with Union Ministers.

It's with a definite intent that KCR has sent his son to do the "honours" on behalf of the party at Yashwant Sinha's nomination program. For, the denouement of the Presidential polls is all too well known.