TRS leaves Third Front, joins NDA

TRS, a constituent of the Third Front, today made clear its intention to move towards BJP-led NDA, saying its chief K Chandrashekhar Rao will attend a rally to be organised by the coalition in Ludhiana tomorrow.

"We got an invitation from SAD chief and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to attend the rally to be organised tomorrow. Our party chief has accepted the invitation," senior TRS leader Vinod Kumar told PTI here.

On whether Rao's attendance of the NDA rally meant he had joined the alliance, Kumar said as of now no official decision has been taken in this regard.

"An official decision will be taken by the Parliamentary Party meeting that will take place after results are announced on May 16," the TRS MP said.

He, however, dropped enough hints about joining the NDA, saying TRS would ally with any party or formulation that supports the cause of separate Telangana state.

The BJP has already promised to carve out separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh if it comes to power.

Kumar said Rao decided to accept the invitation from Badal as the Punjab Chief Minister has been supporting the Telangana statehood demand.

"He has been supporting the demand for a long time. He has even written a letter to (External Affairs Minister) Pranab Mukherjee who heads the cabinet sub-committee on Telangana," Kumar said.