Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samiti leader and former minister T. Harish Rao may be asked to contest the Lok Sabha election from Medak.
With the announcement that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will play a role in national politics with the Federal Front, Mr Harish Rao, who is known for his organisational skills, will most likely be asked to work with him at the Centre.
This paper has already reported that Mr Rao could be contesting the Lok Sabha elections.
Party leaders in private talks say that Mr Rao has been planning the smooth transition of power in the state to his son K.T. Rama Rao, and so will draft his nephew Harish Rao into national politics by fielding him from Medak, currently represented by Kotha Prabhakar Reddy.
In recent interactions with reporters, Mr Chandrasekhar Rao has said that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will not get more than 150 seats in the parliamentary elections this year, and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance could settle for about 100 seats.
In such a scenario, the regional parties will play a crucial role in formation of the government at the Centre, and the Federal Front, which Mr Rao has been working to form, would play a key role.
Against this backdrop, TRS leaders are saying that the chances of Mr Chandrasekhar Rao holding a key post at the Centre cannot be ruled out, and if that is the case, then there is every chance that Harish Rao will get an important post at the Centre.
Citing the latest decision of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party to contest together in Uttar Pradesh without the Congress, TRS leaders recall that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had lauded the efforts of Mr Rao to get a non-Congress and non-BJP front going.
They are of the opinion that there are more chances of Mr Yadav joining hands with Mr Rao to form a government at the Centre as he has already announced that he would meet Mr Rao in Hyderabad any time after the first weeks of this month.
TRS leaders say KCR's idea of drafting Harish Rao into national politics will also avoid unnecessary rifts within the TRS in the future, in the event of K T Rama Rao holding power in the state.
