Days after he was unceremoniously ousted from the Telangana Cabinet by his mentor and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Eatala Rajender is meeting with supporters across political parties.

He was holding the Medical and Health portfolio before he was sacked by the Chief Minister over reports of alleged encroachments on temple land.

The buzz is that he might float a political outfit of his own. Some even suggest that he might join the Bharatiya Janata Party, if pushed to the corner by the ruling TRS.

The real reason behind his ouster was Rajender’s reported moves to float a political party, according to his supporters.

“It was a question of self-respect. Being a party legislator for 20 years, a long-time associate of party President and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and a Cabinet Minister, I was not allowed into the CM’s Camp Office. I was sent away by the security personnel at the entrance more than once,” Rajender told BusinessLine .

“It is very difficult to take the humiliation any longer,” he asserts.

Asked about the allegations on encroachment of lands at the poultry run by his family in Medak district and temple lands in Medchal district, he said he did no wrong and welcomed the inquiries into the dealings.

Future plans

On his future plans, he said he was holding discussions with leaders of various political parties. He felt the need to set up a “common platform” for “like-minded leaders” of various political parties.

Rajender is among few leaders in TRS with State-wide recognition. Representing a BC community, Rajender could attempt to rally around BC leaders, dispersed across various political parties despite having a sizable electoral base strong enough to win an election.

This, political analysts see, might be difficult, considering the strengths of resource-rich main political parties. With the Congress and BJP holding their ground as main opposition parties and YS Sharmila (sister of AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister) floating a new party in Telangana, there’s hardly any scope left for a new political party in the State.

However, analysts say Rajender leaving the party could harm the ruling party in the next elections. “He was among the prominent personalities that fought for a separate State. He stood his ground when powerful leaders like Rajasekhara Reddy ridiculed the movement for separate State,” he said.

They feel that the ruling party should have a leadership bandwidth when the BJP is strengthening its base in the State

Still a member of the TRS, Rajender is busy keeping his flock together. He alleges that his key followers are being targeted and lured by the party leadership. “I will stand by the people of my Constituency and they will stand by me,” he says.

As a Health Minister he wanted to rope in the beds in private medical colleges for Covid patients. “At one go, we could have added well-equipped 14,000 beds. But the proposal was not accepted,” he said.

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