The Telangana Rashtra Samiti leadership has decided to extend support to the main opposition party in AP, the YSR Congress.
The party leadership, after apparently consulting with a cross section of people from Andhra Pradesh and also collecting inputs from other sources, decided to hold talks with YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for the proposed Federal Front at the national level.
Soon after YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy and TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao met at Lotus Pond on January 16.
Telugu Desam leaders in Andhra Pradesh accused YSRC chief of sacrificing Andhra pride before Telangana state Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao just so he could fulfil his ambition of becoming the Chief Minister of AP, and also for the money. The TD has intensified these att0acks on its main Opposition party since then. The TRS chief then sought inputs from various sources of the possible repercussions
of supporting the YSR Congress.
Sources in the party say the reaction has been positive, and that the emotional bonding between the AP people and Hyderabad would trump regional sentiment.
TRS sources say that the feedback from people of AP shows that any strain on relations with Hyderabad will have an adverse impact on the younger generation of Andhraites who are studying or working in Hyderabad. .
TRS leaders claim that Mr Rama Rao appeals to AP citizens, and that in the 2018 Assembly elections, he and his father conveyed their fondness for AP citizens, which is why the TRS won in the Hyderabad constituencies of Kukatpally, Sanathnagar, and Serilingampally where people of AP are greater in number.
Mr Rama Rao has become a bridge between people of AP and the TRS. Hence, it makes sense for the Chief Minister to make common cause with Jagan Mohan Reddy.