Hyderabad, July 27: Even as party honcho K Chandrasekhara Rao is seeking to revamp and repackage his battered outfit after the recent Assembly debacle, dissidents in the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) are upping the ante by exposing to public view the internal discord within the party.
And adding to Rao’s cup of woes is speculation that his ‘‘ninth Chellama’’ is sailing towards the Congress, lured by its siren song of ‘‘development’’. At least, that’s what the grapevine says after party secretary general and Medak MP Vijayashanti’s ‘‘courtesy call’’ on Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy at the Secretariat recently.
Meanwhile, the TRS president is trying to invoke the ‘‘Sravanamasam’’ sentiment to refurbish the party’s public image and gear it for the coming GHMC poll. However, his standing instructions to all important leaders to attend the meeting on the election without fail at the Telangana Bhavan here today, saw many biggies, including Vijayashanti and K Sudarshan Rao (Kukatpally constituency), staying away.
Some TRS leaders are openly wondering about the Medak MP’s intentions. ‘‘Since the elections she has not taken an active part in party affairs. At a time when it is facing a serious crisis, she has not even visited the office once. This is a clear indication that she does not want to be associated with the TRS anymore,’’ a party leader remarked.
And other party sources say that former Vikarabad MLA A Chandrasekhar, who has also been inactive all this while, is poised to jump into dissident activity after sounding his followers.
At today’s review meeting, Ranga Reddy district president Chandrasekhar and the candidates for the Amberpet, Uppal and Nampally constituencies were also absent.
According to sources, a group of rebel leaders met at an undisclosed place today. ‘‘They are planning to forge an alliance with the Congress and want to communicate the same to the TRS chief. If he shows unwillingness to do so, they plan to step up dissidence,’’ a TRS leader opined. Some of the rebels are reportedly planning another meeting on July 28.
–Agencies–