Senior Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader KT Rama Rao officially took over the reins of the party from his father and state Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday. It was announced last Friday that KTR, as he is more popularly known, was appointed as the party Working President. KTR assumed charge at 11:55 am at an event held in Hyderabad at Telangana Bhavan, the party’s headquarters.
Since early on Monday, several TRS supporters arrived at Telangana Bhavan with flags and banners to catch a glimpse of the leader, as a rally was undertaken with KTR on top of a party campaign vehicle. After entering the TRS headquarters, KTR garlanded the Telangana talli (mother) statue in the premises before heading to the office.
The ‘auspicious time’ was decided by senior party leaders as KTR is not known to be deeply superstitious like his father. However, he agreed to go with the decision.
Senior leaders, including T Harish Rao and almost all incumbent ministers in the previous government, were present at the venue. Traffic restrictions were also in place as TRS supporters took over the road in front of the office that is situated opposite KBR Park.
According to reports, a special office will be set up for KTR at the party headquarters, so it will be easier for him to function out of there.
Last week, TRS President and CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has decided to focus on national politics, entrusted the key responsibility to his son, who is seen as number two in the party and the government. The CM has entrusted the responsibility of taking forward the party in accordance with his plan to KTR, the most trusted person in the party, a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office had said.
While the statement claimed that KCR would be preoccupied with governance activities like expediting construction of irrigation projects and also implementing electoral promises in letter and spirit, it is also seen as a clear shift by the Telangana Chief Minister to work on the ‘Federal Front’ that he has been talking about.
“As of now, KCR wants to concentrate more on Delhi, but they are likely to follow in the footsteps of how Akali Dal transferred power from Prakash Singh Badal to his son Sukhbir. KTR is first being given the party to learn political organising and gain experience on that front, before being given a senior leadership position in the government, like a Deputy CM. But there is still time for that,” a party insider had told TNM earlier.
KTR, the only son of KCR, was re-elected to the Assembly from the Sircilla constituency. KTR was Minister for Industry and Information Technology in the previous cabinet. He is likely to be inducted in the new cabinet next week.
It also remains to be seen what post KCR’s nephew, Harish Rao, who is the competitor to KTR, will get in the newly-formed Telangana government. Harish, considered as a leader with a mass base, has been associated with the TRS since it was floated by KCR in 2001. KTR had quit his job in the US to return and join the Telangana movement before the 2009 elections.
Harish, who was earlier reported to be unhappy with KCR’s plans to promote his son as his heir apparent, congratulated KTR on being entrusted with the key responsibility and hoped that he would further strengthen the party.
Harish, who served as a minister in KCR’s previous cabinet and is likely to be inducted in the new cabinet next week, told reporters that he and KTR worked together in the recent elections and they would continue to do so.
Reports suggest that though Harish Rao won with a thumping majority from Siddipet, there is a possibility that he would contest the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 and be given a larger role in the Centre.