KT Rama Rao, a cabinet minister, is the son of Telangana’s chief minister, K Chandrashekar Rao (Archive)
Hyderabad:
The rumor in Telangana is that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who has ambitions to have a role in national politics, could resign in favor of his son KT Rama Rao, a cabinet minister and acting chairman of the ruling TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samiti ), and focus on preparing for the next step.
The decision, provided it is made, is expected to have the support of the party’s top leaders, of whom at least four have hailed Rama Rao as a worthy successor.
“He (Lord Rama Rao) has shown his ability … all of India, and definitely the people of Telangana, will say that. 100 percent … it’s not just me who says this, but the people too, already you know, “Talasani Srinivas Yadav, the minister of animal husbandry, told NDTV.
However, Yadav also said that the final decision would be left to K Chandrashekar Rao, or KCR.
Speculation that KT Rama Rao could become the next Chief Minister first surfaced in 2018, after KCR sought to build on its impressive victory in the Assembly elections with a push across the country to form (and lead) a third front in national politics: an alliance without the BJP or Congress.
It was then that KT Rama Rao was appointed acting head of TRS.
While both KCR and his son poured cold water on the speculation at the time, now Vice President Padma Rao Goud is confident this will happen soon and said so at a Railways event in Hyderabad on Thursday.
“The acting chairman of our party, soon to be Prime Minister … on behalf of the Assembly, the Union of Railways and everyone else here, I convey my congratulations in advance …” he said.
Mr. Rama Rao, who was present at that meeting, did not deny or respond to the comments.
While there appears to be little doubt that at some point he will succeed his father as head of TRS and potentially be appointed Chief Minister, it is unclear why these rumors have emerged now, two years before the next elections to the Assembly and three years for the next Lok Sabha elections.
TRS has also just retained control of Hyderabad’s civic body after a very close fight (significantly closer than expected) with the BJP.
The match won 55 out of 150 rooms, but the victory was marred by the massive rise of the BJP and exceptionally raucous and divisive competition.
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