Telangana: Prashant Kishor in Pragati Bhavan, K T Rama Rao hits out at Congress

HYDERABAD: TRS working president and Telangana minister K T Rama Rao did not hesitate to attack the Congress on Sunday in an interview to TOI, even as political strategist Prashant Kishor (PK) was holding a meeting with TRS supremo and CM K Chandrasekhar Rao at his official residence, Pragati Bhavan, in Hyderabad.
KTR said the BJP was not politically invincible and that the saffron party's biggest strength was an inept Congress.He insisted that people have rejected BJP wherever there was a viable alternative, like Aam Admi Party in Punjab. The comments came ahead of TRS's foundation day celebrations on April 27 and even as there is talk of PK joining the Congress.
The strategist had given a presentation to the Congress on how to revive the party both nationally and in different states. Sources said Congress has told PK that he would have to leave strategising for other parties to join them.
KTR saw no contradiction in his comments and PK's presence in Hyderabad, saying TRS had an agreement with the organisation I-PAC and that PK's role was bringing TRS and I-PAC together. Although he did say PK was separately helping devise a plan both for TRS's national ambition and at the state level.
PK had reached Hyderabad on Saturday and stayed over at Pragati Bhavan.
On why TRS needed I-PAC's help, the TRS working president said that the strategist's services are only to compliment the party's strong position. A person or agency looking the issues objectively would always help the party, he said.
"The election strategy agency helps us to tap the young voters aged between 18 and 25 years, who heavily rely on social media. New voters, who were just 10 years old in 2014 after TRS came into power, know KCR only as CM. They do not know KCR had put 14 years' efforts to achieve separate state for Telangana," KTR said. "We hope to reach out to them with new plans."
As KCR has been making efforts to cobble up a front of various parties and meeting several leaders, KTR said during the previous Lok Sabha elections there was a plan to have a federal front with various regional parties.
"He (KCR) has been talking to and meeting several people and understanding issues. Across the political spectrum views are being shared on how to dislodge the BJP government at the Centre. He will come out with plans soon," the TRS leader said.
Supporting policies that are termed as freebies being extended to certain categories of the people by the TRS government, he opined that any democratically elected government should come to the rescue of the poor people in the country, otherwise it would lead to unrest in the state.
KTR said they would continue to fight against the BJP's policies especially on instigating communal hatred among various communities and misrule of the Centre.