Dressed in pink Hyderabad awaits KCR’s return

A long stretch of pink awaits K. Chandrasekhara Rao, chief of the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS), on his arrival from New Delhi this evening.

KCR, who turned 60 on February 17, had vowed to return only after getting the bill for a separate Telangana passed in Parliament. With his ‘mission accomplished’ he is in for a rousing ‘pink carpet’ reception and big celebrations. In addition to thousands of people who have gathered to cheer his return from Delhi, a troupe comprising horses, camels and artists will welcome him in traditional style.

The man who is seen as largely responsible for the formation of a separate State of Telangana is expected to fly from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad to Begumpet airport in the heart of the city in the evening. Huge cut-outs of KCR offering congratulations and promising a Telangana of the people’s dreams in the party’s pink colour adorn the route of the victory rally.

The city police have announced traffic diversions as KCR and his close followers in the TRS will be taken in procession along the busy thoroughfares extending 5 km to Gun Park, the scene of scores of protests for Telangana.

The TRS supremo is scheduled to address a huge gathering. Thousands of people have been coming into the city from the neighbouring districts of Mahboobnagar, Nalgonda, Warangal and Medak since morning.

There is heightened anticipation on the political front too in the State capital. Will KCR merge the TRS with the Cong (I) as he had promised and make a dalit the first Chief Minister of Telangana? Will he give in to the party cadres demands that the TRS take the responsibility of building the new Telangana with him as the Chief Minister? These are questions that are being debated as the Presidential notification is expected, even as political pressure from the Congress (I) mounts.

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