Telangana polls to see a ‘direct battle’ between Congress, TRS: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday described next year’s Telangana’s assembly elections as a ‘direct battle’ between his party and the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), as he addressed a public rally in Warangal on the first day of a two-day visit to the southern state.

“We will topple the TRS in elections and it will be a direct battle between the Congress and TRS. We will not forgive the person who has ruined the dream of Telangana, and stolen lakhs and crores from the youth and poor,” news agency ANI quoted Gandhi as saying, in a possible reference to chief minister and TRS president K Chandrashekar Rao.

The former Congress president also said that the party will distribute tickets for the polls on the basis of merit. “If you are not with the poor, farmers, you will not get the ticket,” the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad announced.

“The widows of farmers in the state are crying, there are thousands of them whose husbands committed suicide. Whose responsibility is it?” the 51-year-old leader also asked.

Meanwhile, in an indirect jibe at Gandhi, TRS working president and K Chandrashekar Rao’s son, KT Rama Rao, described the former as a ‘political tourist.’ The Telangana IT minister tweeted: “Political tourists will come and go. Only KCR garu here to stay in #TELANGANA.”

Gandhi’s visit to the state comes in the backdrop of the Osmania University, located in the capital city of Hyderabad, denying him permission to visit the campus; he was scheduled to go there on Saturday. The Congress has accused the TRS of being behind the university administration’s decision.

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The visit also comes in the backdrop of the failure of talks between the grand old party and election strategist Prashant Kishor, which resulted in Kishor not joining the Sonia Gandhi-led outfit. The failure was linked to, among others, a pact signed between the TRS and Kishor’s Indian Political Committee (I-PAC) to assist the ruling party during the assembly elections.