Numbers belie Telangana, Andhra Pradesh parties' kingmaker claim
There are 17 MPs in Telangana state and 25 in Andhra Pradesh, States like West Bengal have 42 MPs and UP 80.
Hyderabad: Numbers belie the claims of Chief Ministers K. Chandrasekhar Rao and N. Chandrababu Naidu and YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy that they will play a key role in national politics.
The number of MPs the two states sends is small: 17 in Telangana state and 25 in Andhra Pradesh. This is small change when compared to the bigger states, with West Bengal having 42 Lok Sabha seats and Uttar Pradesh 80.
There are few chances that either of the three Telugu parties will grab all the seats in their respective state and it is unlikely that they will win any seat in other Telugu state. By winning just a few seats, it may not be possible for any of these three leaders to play a key role in national politics in 2019.
All these three leaders say that after the Lok Sabha elections they will decide who will be the next Prime Minister. For this, Mr Rao is asking the people to help the TRS win 16 Lok Sabha seats out of 17, excepting Hyderabad for the MIM. In AP, Mr Naidu and Mr Reddy are appealing for votes to win all the 25 Lok Sabha seats.
Three state leaders join Congress
While TD national president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu says the party will play a key role after 2019 elections in Telangana, migration from state unit of the party to congress is continuing.
A few Telangana leaders joined in Congress on Friday in presence of AICC president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi. Among them were senior TD leader Onteru Pratap Reddy, TRS MLA Erraballi Dayakar Rao’s nephew Madan Mohan, Osmania University student leader Prithvi Raj Yadav and Telangana Progressive Recognised Teachers’ Union chief Harshavardhan Reddy.
TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, TPCC in-charge RC Khuntia and former minister Sunitha Laxama Reddy were also present at the event.