'Back off' from Telangana politics, KCR tells Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao hit out at his Andhra counterpart on Monday, and asked CM N Chandrababu Naidu to 'back off' from Telangana politics. 

Addressing a meeting at Telangana Bhavan, KCR said Naidu should stick to Andhra Pradesh, and added that any attempt to enter Telangana would be futile. 

On Monday, KCR welcomed former TDP MP Ramesh Rathod and Congress leader P Ravindar Rao into the TRS, along with hundreds of their supporters. 

According to reports, KCR called Naidu a 'cheat', and asked him to 'mind his own business', while adding that the TDP chief would lose his deposit if he contested in Telangana.

This statement comes less than a week after Naidu attended the annual conclave of his party's Telangana unit in Hyderabad.

Despite the crisis faced by the TDP in Telangana due to many top leaders and legislators switching loyalties to the ruling TRS over last three years, Naidu flew down to Hyderabad to address party's annual conclave to boost the morale of the party cadre.

All praise for the hard work of TDP cadre, he said that the TDP workers were his real source of inspiration and the party's strength.

Though Naidu avoided any harsh criticism of the TRS, TDP's Telangana unit leaders came down heavily on TRS government for its 'failures' on various fronts.

Meanwhile, KCR also lashed out at the BJP, reiterating that they would not win a single seat in Telangana.

Last week, a survey conducted on behalf of KCR claimed that the TRS would win 106 seats in the 119-member assembly, if elections were held now.

The survey also claimed that the BJP would not get a single seat.

The survey comes close on the heels of BJP national President Amit Shah's three-day visit to Telangana, during which he exuded confidence that the party will come to power in the state in the 2019 elections.

The visit triggered a war of words between TRS and BJP, with KCR asking Amit Shah to apologise to the people of Telangana for what he said was "belittling" the newly created state. 

KCR also spoke about his proposed quota bill that would provide 12% reservation to backward Muslims in the state. 

“The 12 per cent reservations for Muslims will also happen in due course. It is certain the TRS will come back to power in the next elections. When we have taken up several programmes for the welfare of the people, why will they not vote for us?" he was quoted as saying.


IANS inputs