Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said that he would ‘return the gift’ to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu and could likely campaign against him in his state. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President did not rule out his party contesting elections in the neighbouring state.
"Anything is possible," he said when asked at a news conference if TRS would contest the polls in Andhra Pradesh or support any party against Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP). KCR claimed that his party received one lakh messages from Andhra Pradesh, requesting it to focus on the politics in their state.
Naidu had campaigned aggressively in Telangana Assembly elections in support of the TDP candidates and its ally Congress.
Naidu, who spent almost his entire political life in Hyderabad, turned emotional as he hit the roads around Cyberabad in November, the IT district which took shape during his nine-year stint as Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
"Who built Cyberabad? Who brought Microsoft to Hyderabad? Is it not me?" he asked the crowd at every meeting he addressed. He recalled how he placed the city on the world IT map by bringing in global giants and creating world-class infrastructure.
"Who built the international airport? Who built 165-km long world-class outer Ring Road?" he asked amid loud cheers from the crowd.
"When he can come here, why can't I go there? Chandrababu Naidu said he wants the welfare of Telugu people. Can't I work for the good of Telugu people?" KCR responded on Tuesday, during a press meet.
"He came to us with a gift. We will return the gift. If I don't return the gift, he will say Telangana has no manners," KCR said, taking a dig at Naidu.
The TDP won two seats out of 13 it contested in Telangana. The Congress-led People's Front was crushed by the TRS, which won absolute majority. TRS’ gamble of early elections paid off with the party scoring a landslide 4/5th win getting 88 seats out of 119 at stake.
IANS inputs