KCR readies national squad to take on Modi

HYDERABAD: TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is getting ready to enter the national political firmament by forming the party's 'national squad’ to assist him in achieving his ambition of forming a government at the Centre.

The squad will be camped in Delhi after the announcement of national party. The construction activities of TRS office in New Delhi has been expedited to ensure that the office becomes operational by December, sources added.

Party sources said MLC and former Assembly Speaker S.Madhusudhana Chary, T.S. Planning Board vice-chairman and former Lok Sabha member B. Vinod Kumar, MLC K. Kavitha, Rythu Bandhu chairman and MLC Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, MLA Balka Suman, Rajya Sabha members D. Damodar Rao  and K.R. Suresh Reddy, Lok Sabha members Nama Nageshwar Rao and Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, and few other leaders are likely to be appointed to the national team.

Chandrashekar Rao is reportedly planning to launch the national party on the occasion of Dasara in October.

The party's national squad will function from the TRS office in New Delhi and coordinate with leaders of regional parties in various states, arranging meetings between the CM and leaders of regional parties in Hyderabad and other states, facilitating tours of regional party leaders to Hyderabad to meet CM and also draft tour schedules of CM to various states until 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"The national team's initial focus will be on the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh. The CM will devise his election strategy, and the national team will execute the strategy in respective states in coordination with non-BJP parties in each state,” sources said.

Initial rounds of discussions on the Karnataka and Gujarat Assembly polls were already held by leaders of regional parties of respective states with  Chandrashekar Rao, sources said while referring to Karnataka former CM and JDS leader H.D. Kumaraswamy and Gujarat former CM Shankar Singh Vaghela.