Chasing national ambitions while also maintaining TRS supremacy in the state is no easy task

Last week , political strategist Prashant Kishor and actor turned politician Prakash Raj visited Telangana for wide ranging consultations .

The visit came days after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao visited Mumbai to meet his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress party president Sharad Pawar . Mr. Raj met Mr. Rao at Mumbai airport and was present at the meeting with both the leaders.

If pictures of Mr. Raj receiving Mr. Rao at the airport caught everyone’s imagination, there was more in store when it became known that the actor and Mr. Kishor met Mr. Rao days later. They also visited two reservoirs, a resettlement and rehabilitation colony for project oustees , an integrated vegetarian and non – vegetarian market, an auditorium and a crematorium in Siddipet.

The ruling TRS made light of Mr. Kishor’s visit saying his meeting with Mr. Rao was only part of the tour he was taking of the country to understand the views of leaders on the political situation. A senior leader said Mr. Rao explained to Mr. Kishor the summary of his meeting with Mr. Thackeray. Mr kishor gave a presentation of his work as the founder of the Indian political action committee. ” But our boss is not be swayed so easily”, the leader said , adding that Mr. Raj was present more to discuss political programmes in which he could play a role . The TRS leaders said that Mr. Kishor had been tasked with preparing the blueprint for the party’s prospects in the next assembly elections. His team would be deployed to survey the public pulseand suggest corrective action.

Mr. Rao’s priority is to enter the national stage and handover the baton in Telangana to his son and Minister K.T. Rama Rao. But that would mean engaging the BJP in a healthy contest, keeping the Congress at bay in the state , and entering the national scene all at the same time , which is no easy task.