All eyes will be focused on the role of the TRS when the no-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA government of Narendra Modi by the TDP on the issue of Special Category Status (SCS) comes up for discussion in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
The TDP, which severed its alliance with the BJP on the tricky issue of SCS, tabled a no-confidence motion against the Modi government accusing it of failing to deliver on the promises made to the state at the time of bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh.
The TDP's strength in the Lok Sabha is 17, including one member from the YSCRP defecting to the TDP, and the motion is widely expected to fail, serving the purpose mainly of bringing the grouses of AP into the national limelight and bolstering the equity of the TDP with the state's populace.
The TRS with a strength of 11 members has yet to spell its stand on the no-trust motion. Though the anti-BJP stance of TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is well-known, the party is not expected to unequivocally extend its support to the motion, despite
the request by the TDP a few days back.
A meeting of the TRS members was held this morning at the residence of the floor leader of the party Jitender Reddy in New Delhi with regard to the role to be played by them during the debate in the House. Party MP Vinod Kumar said that the TRS members would be present in the House during the debate and would highlight the promises made to Telangana that are yet to be fulfilled by the central government.
However, speculation is rife in political circles in the national capital that KCR wants to play safe in the matter by adopting a neutral stand, and that the TRS members will not take part in the voting on the motion.
Interestingly, the YSR Congress Party, whose five Lok Sabha MPs had resigned from their membership of the House on the issue of SCS after their own no-trust motion could not be taken up in the House during the last Parliament session, have expressed support to the TDP's motion. In fact, the lone YSRCP member in the Rajya Sabha, Vijayasai Reddy, also moved a no-trust motion on the SCS issue in the upper house which is expected to come up for discussion on Monday.