Telangana elections: ‘Naidu created hype of great fight…we will come back with very clear mandate’

Nothing has happened. N Chandrababu Naidu is very good at media management. He started creating this hype that its going to be a great fight and TDP has a great deal of hope. But (there is) nothing on the ground. You will see that in the results. We will come back with a very clear mandate.

Do you agree that Prajakutami is making you work harder?

Not really. The attack of Naidu is making you feel that it’s a tough fight. The style of TRS has always has been like this. KCR would tell the people that if anything wrong happens, beware, we will have to continue our work. He tells people that Naidu does not have the interest of Telangana in his mind, he does not have the strength to come and fight election directly in Telangana, so he is trying to enter through the back door. We have to tell our people this is what is happening. In the last four years, he was with the BJP and continuously tried to stall various projects in our state.

Congress is considered to be a national party. But the other day, Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot had to travel to Amaravati to get his candidates vetted by Naidu before he came to Hyderabad.

Then why are your leaders trying to evoke Telangana sentiments? Why don’t you rely on the development and welfare measures your government has initiated?

It is not a sentiment, it’s a fact. We have suffered in the last 60 years. We have been played by outsiders. What does Naidu have here? He has no role.

But he had 15 MLAs here

Yes, he did. Not any longer. Now Telangana is a legitimate state, we try to make some projects here. But he writes to the central government against it. If you are a person who tries to stall development, how can you come and ask for votes here? We have to tell people that we are here to protect interests of the state, not he. It’s not playing sentiments. Today, the Congress seeks his permission to field candidates, it’s fine, because they are going to lose. But if tomorrow… will all Congress policies be dictated by Naidu? He is fundamentally against the interests of Telangana.

Do you, at any point of time, feel that the early dissolution of the House was a mistake?

The early election move by TRS is a wonderful political move. The discussion today is only about Telangana and if this election was held with the general election, there would have been 100 things. Congress would have said Masjid, BJP would have said Mandir and no one would have talked about Telangana. Let the people discuss who is working and who is not working for Telangana. The candidates would not have been able to ask votes on the basis of the work we have done.

How do you respond to this criticism that it was an understanding with the BJP that you would go for election now and for Lok Sabha, you can join hands with the BJP. Because if it is done together, you would have problem with the Muslim votes?

Our leader or the party does not have to hide anything from the people of Telangana. We have nothing to do with BJP politically. Yes, with the Prime Minister, we will certainly need a lot of assistance from the Centre for the state. We have a working relationship with the PM and the central government. We are not like Naidu: when you are friends, you ask for unreasonable things and something goes wrong, you go out and start attacking them. We are never close, never far away. Tomorrow, if any other party comes to power at the Centre, we will be friendly with them for the state’s interests. We will have a working relation. BJP has five MLAs and we are working hard to make it zero.

BJP is a rival as Congress or other parties?

Definitely. But it has no stakes here. I can’t waste my time criticising them where it does not matter. Our principal opponent is Congress, so we criticise them.

Would any impression that you are close to the BJP affect your prospects adversely in Muslim-dominated areas?

The goodwill the Chief Minister has is tremendous. They have understood that with us, they will prosper tomorrow. About 1.50 lakh Muslim children study in the state-run schools. This is a Congress plan against us that we are with the BJP. BJP and the Congress are two faces of the same coin. They take each other’s names and ask for votes. We tell them, Muslims have gone with non-Congress, non-BJP parties in every state and they can go with us here.

Let’s talk about your plans? Are you going to stick to national politics?

In a regional party, one should never have a personal agenda. We come from a movement background and we never had a personal agenda. Wherever party asks you to go, you go.

There is a lot of talk about you, your father, your brother and cousin. Some say your father wants to make K T Rama Rao, your brother, successor, whereas your cousin T Harish Rao, some say, is more people-friendly and wants to lead. Your comment?

There is no such thing. KCR is a strong leader and will be in the leading position for a long time. This talk is thanks to the media… I am not KCR, I can’t speak on his behalf. Let me tell you one thing — it largely depends on the people. Its not what someone wants or does not. We believe in people. We still don’t understand Telangana the way our father does. So, there is no point in pushing someone who is not ready yet.

As a politician in a regional party, how do you place yourselves in the politics that is overburdened with religious sentiments?
We are lucky, we are a movement party and we never had to indulge in this appeasement politics nor did we have to pitch one section against the other. We had to unite all sections. My father understands the pain of uniting people. He was particular that he governs for everyone. (Prime Minister) Modi says so, but we are doing it.

So, are you bracing for an election with mandir and masjid issue or development?

From my experience I can tell you, with the fight the TRS MPs put up in Parliament, we have got a number of projects, roads etc. We took up the issue and fought for it in Parliament. Let me tell you, tomorrow’s politics is going to be dominated by regional parties, because national parties have failed to address the regional issues. Regional parties will dominate 2019 elections and TRS will be one of the biggest players there.