The face- off between TDP and TRS has reached its crescendo with leaders of the two parties going personal and the Telangana patriarch threatening to sue for damages and left no room to end the slanging match of blame game.
Reacting sharply to TDP allegations, K Chandrasekhar Rao launched a diatribe against his former boss N Chandrababu Naidu and questioned his integrity and style of functioning even as Naidu plans to go on a Telangana tour in the backdrop of Polavaram tenders.
Though Chandrasekhar Rao gave a blow by blow reply to all the allegations levelled by TDP, he was a shade late and a bit short to take the bull by its horns. TDP on the other hand skirted the main issue and resorted to mud-slinging and with the presidents of both the parties crossing swords at a time when more important issues are to be resolved, it remains to be seen what could be the outcome on Telangana.
With the two parties not in a position to decide on the Telangana issue, Congress, which holds all the aces at present remains untouched and it has its own approach to the problem.
The allegation that TRS joined hands with Congress to scale down the Telangana agitation and could get the Polavaram tenders to its nominee had many buyers but the credentials of TDP were constantly questionable. Cashing on it, TRS made most of the situation by accusing TDP of double standards and lack of clear stand on Telangana while TDP upped its ante saying it was a sell out as the Polavaram contract was given to a person and his associates who invested in a pro- Telangana newspaper.
After the allegations and counter allegations flew from one side to the other, maintaining the tempo, Chandrababu Naidu entered the scene calling Chandrasekhar Rao names like Vasul Raja (Collection King) the later came out with all his valour and armoury. Going personal, he questioned the financial status of Naidu and how he has been able to run his party from the two acres of land he owns.
However, he skipped the main issue of Polavaram bids and brushed it aside saying that if an investor in a pro Telangana paper has his own business interests elsewhere, TRS is in no way concerned with it. The investor is a protagonist of Telangana and that’s what matters. He also accounted for his own investment of Rs 4 crore in the newspaper and Rs 50 lakh in the TV Channel but did not at any point answer the moral question on Polavaram.
Dichotomy comes into play when TRS, which opposes the project in its present design, brushes aside the moral question of the protagonists of Telangana getting the Polavaram contract along with others. Both TDP and TRS seem to have ignored the point. While the former is busy drumming up the TRS-Congress secret pact, the latter is harping on the ideology-is-different-from-business stand.
When the pot is still boiling Naidu opted to tour Telangana, Khammam and Nalgonda districts, considered to be safe due to various factors though TRS said that it will stall his padayatra, scheduled for mid November, as TDP did not spell it stand categorically on Telangana.