Huzurnagar win silences TRS rebels

Hyderabad: Winning the Huzurnagar byelection with a record majority has helped the TRS leadership screw the lid shut on dissidents in the party. There is a sullen silence in the ranks of the rebels.

For the first time in the recent past, dissidents had raised their voice in the party after the TRS performed poorly in the Lok Sabha elections in April-May this year.

When he was under attack within the party, health minister Etala Rajendar came out openly and said he was also one of the owners of the TRS. Mr Rajendar was reacting to speculation about his continuance in the Cabinet after he was blamed for leaking details of a meeting that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had with officials.

Mr Rajendar notably found support from party MP V. Lakshmikantha Rao and legislator Rasamayi, among other leaders.

Then, in the midst of rumours that the BJP, then on the ascendant after winning four seats in the Lok Sabha elections, Bodhan TRS MLA Mohammed Shakil Amir almost left the party and held discussions with BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind. At the last minute, he was persuaded to reverse his decision and stay on with the party.

TRS leaders said that after the Huzurnagar result, no one will leave the party not raise their voice against the leadership.

Before the 2018 Assembly elections, some MLCs had left the TRS and joined the Congress. There was speculation that TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has lost his grip over the party.

The TRS did not win as many seats as it had targeted in the Assembly elections. Its performance in the Lok Sabha elections was unexpectedly poor. Besides the presence of the BJP on the sidelines gave strength to the dissidents. The Congress restarted its campaign that the TRS was losing its hold on the people. Then came the RTC staff strike.

It was against this backdrop the the Huzurnagar byelection was held. The BJP lost its deposit and the Congress gave up a seat that it held for three terms. And it maun vrat for the dissidents.