Is TRS targetting Jagan to stir up Telangana sentiment ahead of Huzurabad bye-poll?
The TRS has been consistently attacking former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and his son, Jagan Mohan Reddy. news Politics  Telangana Minister for Roads and Buildings Vemula Prashanth Reddy on Wednesday, June 23, made provocative remarks against the Chief Minister of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy calling him a water thief  a thief bigger than his father, former Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh late YS Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), Prashanth Reddy remarked. In his tirade against the neighboring state for stealing water, the minister also went to attack the people of Andhra Pradesh, calling them Rakshasas (demons). These provocative comments were made in the context of Andhra Pradesh allegedly violating the order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and going ahead with its construction of the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS). The Telangana government contends that this would deprive water to its districts of Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Khammam. Joining his colleague in the attack, Excise Minister Srinivas Goud on Friday, June 25, said that YSR had cheated the people of Telangana by constructing the Pothireddypadu project against the interests of Telangana. Further, he also blamed him for the death of late Congress leader from Telangana, P Janardhan Reddy, who had opposed the project. Expressing disappointment that YSRs son, Jagan, was given a warm reception by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao after he had won the state elections in 2019, Srinivas had said, We thought he had changed. We are criticising him after realising that he had not changed.  These provocative remarks invoking the sentiment of Telangana statehood is a political move by the TRS ahead of the Huzurabad bye-election, say political analysts. Huzurabad constituency will witness a bye-poll soon as its incumbent legislator and former Health Minister Eatala Rajender had resigned from the TRS and his MLA post. Eatala, a senior leader who had participated in the agitation for separate statehood, joined the BJP after his own party turned on him over allegations of land grabbing. Eatala, who is also a popular face of the Backward Class with three consecutive wins as an MLA, joined the BJP on June 14. Political observers say that the sudden attack on the people of Andhra Pradesh and their Chief Minister by the TRS, is to hijack the narrative from the BJP for the Huzurabad constituency. Though the election date is yet to be announced, the BJP and TRS have already sounded the election bugle, effectively making it a primary contest between them. The BJP, which had lost the Nagarjuna Sagar bye-election in May after winning the Dubbaka MLA seat and making inroads in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), aims to rejuvenate the party by winning the Huzurabad constituency. Eatala joining the BJP has given a fresh impetus to the party to grow further in the state by 2023, for the next Assembly elections. Since Eatala joined the BJP, the party has re-invoked the Telangana sentiment by highlighting his sacrifices in the statehood agitation and projecting him as a mass leader. The simple reason for invoking the Telangana sentiment at this hour and making outrageous statements against Andhra people or Jagan is to hijack the narrative from the BJP. The TRS wants to overshadow Eatala, and prove that they are better Telangana leaders, says Palwai Raghavendra Reddy, a political analyst. Eatala was one of the founding leaders of the TRS which was formed in 2001 for the cause of a separate state. TRS is known for its style of aggression. They were dormant after coming to power and reinvented themselves as a political party from being an agitating party. Since Huzurabad is going to the polls, they have yet again invoked the Telangana sentiment, says Telakapalli Ravi, another political analyst. Ravi further points out, There has been no response either from Jagan or the people of Andhra Pradesh, because they also know the politics.  However, YSRs daughter YS Sharmila, who will soon be launching her political party in Telangana, has condemned the attacks against her father. Sharmila said that her fathers admirers would not remain silent if TRS continues attacking YSR.