As the Telangana sentiments continue to be on the boil with in the Telugu Desam Party and the senior party leader T Devender Goud is pondering over his next move, there are several other top leaders of the TDP from Telangana region who needs to be watched closely.
Even as the beleaguered TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu is trying to bulldoze Goud by pitting several other leaders against him, more and more senior leaders from Telangana region are coming out in support of Goud.
They include a veteran like Ch Rajeshwara Rao, former minister and Dalit leader Kadiam Srihari, former minister E Peddi Reddy, former Union minister P Venugopala Chary, Gutta Sukhinder Reddy, C Mutyam Reddy and E Dayakar Rao belonging to different districts of the region.
If all these leaders with their supporters quit the TDP in mass, it will be as good was TDP getting wiped out from the map of Telangana, which was once the stronghold of the party.
Devender Goud, known as clever strategist, is maintaining an enigmatic silence busy in consultations with his supporters, mulling two options of either joining the proposed party of film star Chiranjeevi or launching his own regional party.
Sources close to him say that in case he opts for launching his own party, his long term plan is to have an electoral alliance or understanding with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti to defeat both the Congress and the TDP in the next elections.
Leaders to watch:
Rajeshwara Rao, who had quit the CPI to join the TDP before 2004 elections, is no pushover. His voice is heard respectfully and has his own following.
Presently, he represents Sircilal constituency of Karimnagar district in assembly. In a telling comment, he said: "From my heart, I have always been an integrationist (pro united Andhra Pradesh) but after seeing the injustice with Telangana by the Congress government I am forced to demand Telangana."
Future: Likely to quit the TDP to join Devender Goud if he forms a new party. His name is being proposed to head the new party.
Srihiari, who held several important portfolios in TDP governments in the past, has come out openly in favour of Telangana. In his latest statement, he said there were many leaders in the party, who supported the demand for Telangana.
He also has warned that if the party does not take a decision in favour of Telangana, it will be disastrous in the next elections.
Deemed to be a close confidante of Chandrababu Naidu, Dayakar Rao is of the view that party can not go back after declaring that it respect the Telangana sentiment.
He feels that those who raised the slogan of Telangana in the recent by leaders will lose their respect and credibility in the eyes of the people if they change their position now.
With so many leaders up in arms, Naidu is finding himself caught between devil and the deep sea.
