YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has sacked YSR Congress Party founding member. Telangana based advocate and die-hard fan of YS Rajasekhar Reddy, Siva Kumar, the founder of YSRCP, has been shown the door by Jagan.

Siva Kumar had started the political party Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party in 2009 and it was registered. When YS Jagan wanted to start a new political party in 2011, he had planned to have both YSR and Congress in his party’s name. However, Jagan wanted to have an alternative definition/acronym for YSR mentioned in the party name. That absolutely suited in form of ‘Yuvajana Sramika Rythu’ (Youth, Labour & Farmers). Since the party is already registered by Siva Kumar, Jagan had decided to take over Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party from its foudner Siva Kumar. On the promise of due importance in party and nominated posts, Jagan had taken over YSRCP in March 2011.

Whilst Siva Kumar had been sidelined in the party, he continued without making any controversy. However, in 2018 assembly elections in Telangana, Siva Kumar had announced the support of Telangana unit of YSRCP to Congress party. Siva Kumar reasoned that YS Rajasekhar Reddy had been in Congress and had been loyal to the party and had rose to the level due to Congress party itself. Siva Kumar also reasoned that TRS and KCR have been targeting late YSR in their speeches. In this backdrop, Siva Kumar released a press statement asking YSR fans to support Congress in Telangana polls.

This hasn’t gone down well with Jagan and the party leadership who are privately supporting the TRS in Telangana. Releasing a counter press statement, YSRCP claimed that it is not supporting any political party in Telangana elections. The press statement also said it has sacked Siva Kumar from the party with immediate effect. Many hard-core fans of late YSR are said to be unhappy over this decision of Jagan.

The ruling TRS seems to have fallen into its own trap regarding the Lagadapati Rajagopal survey fiasco.Soon after Lagadapati disclosed his survey results predicting that the Congress-led Mahakutami has an edge over TRS in Assembly polls on Wednesday night, KTR sprang into action on a war- footing and exposed the ‘WhatsApp’ chat between him and Rajagopal done in November in which Rajagopal had predicted victory for TRS.

While the purpose of KTR in making the WhatsApp chat public was to expose the ‘fake survey’ of Rajagopal, it backfired as Rajagopal too exposed KTR, the very next day on Thursday, disclosing the WhatsApp chat between him and KTR done from September, soon after dissolution of Telangana Assembly.

This issue has now turned out to be a ‘political weapon’ for the Congress ahead of the crucial polling on December 7. The Congress is accusing KTR of maintaining ‘close links’ with anti-Telangana protagonists like Rajagopal in response to KTR accusing Telangana Congress of joining hands with “Andhra party” Telugu Desam.

The WhatsApp chat made public by Rajagopal between him and KTR clearly showed how KTR has been seeking the help of Rajagopal to take up surveys to find out the TRS prospects in the elections.KTR requested Rajagopal to take up surveys in specific constituencies selected by KTR, which was done and reports were submitted to KTR for rectifying the defects in TRS, identified in the survey.

Political analysts wonder as to how KTR underestimated Rajagopal and how KTR missed a simple logic that Rajagopal will also make his chat public, which will only damage him and TRS in the elections while Rajagopal has nothing to lose as he is no more into active politics.

There being a possibility of a’ Hung’ verdict delivered in the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections, the TRS leadership is worried over how to maintain its ‘open friendship’ with MIM and ‘secret friendship’ with BJP at one go, should the need arise for seeking the support of either Party after the polls.

If TRS falls short of the magic mark to form the government, it has to depend on it’s open ally MIM or its secret ally BJP to get the required numbers.

While MIM is sure of bagging 7 seats in Old city, the BJP too is expected to perform better by increasing it’s tally from the existing 5 to 10.

These 10 to 17 seats might be extremely crucial for the TRS. But then, its public knowledge that BJP and MIM will never join hands.

MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi on Wednesday said they were supporting TRS not out of love for TRS but out of political compulsion as MIM believes that if it does not support TRS, the TRS may move closer to BJP, which would help BJP to get stronger in Telangana, which MIM does not want.

This means that if KCR seeks BJP support, MIM will distance itself from TRS and KCR will become an enemy of Modi if he seeks MIM support.

Doing a balancing act will become extremely difficult for KCR in future.

Hyderabad: “Come on, kill me. I go around without security” is how AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday reacted to a challenge by a BJP leader to leave his security and fight with him for 15 minutes.

T. Raja Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Goshamahal Assembly constituency in Hyderabad, had dared Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi to keep aside their security and wrestle with him.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief told reporters that during the last 25 years, he never had even one security guard and goes around alone. “I am ready to die for my cause and I am not scared.”Raja Singh, who was a member of the dissolved Assembly, had earlier threatened to cut the head of Akbaruddin Owaisi.

“What kind of language is this. Had I used the same language for Prime Minister, you would have turned it into Hindu-Muslim, linked me to Pakistan, and branded me an agent of Lashkar-e-Toiba and a friend of Bin Laden,” said Asaduddin Owaisi.

The MP said ganging up of Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu against him had given strong message to the people of Hyderabad.

“The pride of Hyderabad will be shown on December 7. People will reject politics of hate and threat and politics of entitlement. They will give a befitting reply.”Referring to the allegations of the BJP and Congress leaders against him, Owaisi said they were working together in Telangana to stop AIMIM.”Whatever I do becomes a point of discussion. All parties whose graph is going down think that by criticising Owaisi they will become relevant in Indian politics,” he said.

On Yogi’s recent statement that if the BJP comes to power, Owaisi will have to flee Hyderabad, the AIMIM leader said the BJP cannot treat Muslims as second-class citizens.”I am not only an Indian by birth like Yogi, but I am also an Indian by choice. We rejected Jinnah’s theory and accepted India as our homeland. You can’t treat us like second-class citizens.”

Owaisi said Rahul Gandhi should realise that the politics of entitlement would not work now. “Because of their ignorance, arrogance, incapacity, incapability and their feudal mentality, people are forced to vote for Modi. The moment they change, the change will happen,” he said attacking the Congress.The Hyderabad MP remarked that India’s politics cannot be biplolar because the country has huge diversity which is not being represented by the Congress and the BJP.

“It has to be reflected by regional parties. They will play an important role in who should be the next Prime Minister,” he said.