UPA tries to woo estranged ally TRS

With the Left parties' withdrawal of support from the Manmohan Singh led United Progressive Alliance creating a political uncertainty at the Centre, some leaders have started efforts to woo Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhara Rao, to secure his support for the beleaguered coalition.

The TRS has two members in Lok Sabha, including its president K Chandrasekhara Rao. Nationalist Congress Party president and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar telephoned KCR today and urged him to extend support to the UPA.

"I told him clearly that we will extend support to the UPA only if the government announces the formation of Telangana state," Rao told reporters in Hyderabad.

"Whoever gives us Telangana, we will be with them," KCR said. "If the Prime Minister publicly commits himself to Telangana, we will support him," he added.

TRS, which had fought the 2004 elections as a Congress ally and won five Lok Sabha seat, was part of UPA government. But it withdrew its support and its members quit the Lok Sabha in March in protest against the failure of the UPA government to form the Telangana state.

"So far, the Left parties were blocking the path of formation of Telangana. Now that the obstacle is gone, the government should initiate the process of formation of the state. If the Congress does not do it, its real face will be exposed before the people," KCR said.

When asked about the possibility of TRS allying with the Telugu Desam Party in the future, he said that if the TDP passes a resolution in support of Telangana, they would take it into consideration.