ALL IN THE GAME: Minister for Sports and Culture M. Satyanarayana Rao (middle) offers to conditionally tender his resignation at his residence in the city on Tuesday, as a counter to the ongoing war of words with the TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Ra o . — PHOTO: P.V.Sivakumar

HYDERABAD: The chasm between the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the Congress has widened with the erstwhile poll allies challenging each other for a direct electoral confrontation.

In picking up the gauntlet and tendering his resignation from the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat, TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao is out to prove that the Telangana sentiment is blowing in his party's favour. Sports Minister M. Satyanarayana Rao wants to show that the TRS leader won in 2004 solely due to the Congress support.

Instances of individual leaders contesting against each other immediately after resigning their seats on `personal grounds' are rare in the State. Also, after the AICC's plea to the TRS chief not to resign, it is a moot question whether it will permit a Minister, and a former PCC president at that, to quit and take on the TRS president. A setback in the election could upset its calculations on Telangana and complicate matters for the Congress Government.

One-of-kind battle

If a contest takes place between the two in Karimnagar, it will be a one-of-kind battle as both are veterans in electoral politics. Mr. Satyanarayana Rao won the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat three times on a trot -- 1971, 1977 and 1980, the first on the ticket of the Telangana Praja Samithi. Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao won the Siddipet Assembly seat six times in a row and the Karimnagar Parliament seat once.

Political developments

Tuesday's fast-paced political developments though sudden were unsurprising. The TRS leader had challenged the Congress MLAs and MPs at the Siddipet public meeting to resign and face the electorate afresh and said his party too would do so.

Central to the challenges by Congress leaders is their argument that the TRS has been winning elections on the strength of their party's support.

They point out that the TRS could win only six out of the 57 ZPTCs in the local bodies polls this year. In last year's municipal elections too, it won just one out of 50 divisions in the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation, five wards in Metpalli and one each in Korutla, Jagityal and Sircilla municipalities. All these civic bodies are part of Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency.

They also believe that the Telangana sentiment which may work in favour of the TRS would be diluted by a four-cornered contest in which the TDP and the BJP (Mr. Ch. Vidyasagar Rao won the seat twice) would be determined to make a mark.

For all these developments to happen, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao has to personally hand over his letter of resignation to the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

Under the rules, an MP wishing to quit has to meet the Speaker before his letter is accepted.

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