Hyderabad: With Congress-JDS alliance all set to form the government in Karnataka, there were confusing signals on whether Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will attend HD Kumaraswamy’s swearing in ceremony in Bengaluru or not.

Kumaraswamy personally spoke to Rao as well as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu over phone and invited them to the ceremony to be held on May 23.

Though Rao had publicly appealed to the Telugu people in Karnataka to support Janata Dal Secular in the elections, he has maintained stoic silence over the hung mandate as it led to formation of JDS-Congress alliance.

According to sources, when Kumaraswamy called Rao to invite him for the swearing in ceremony, he congratulated the Karnataka leader and promised to attend the function. But many party leaders believe that he may not visit Bengaluru as the swearing in was of the JDS-Congress alliance and the Congress was his main and bitter opponent in the state.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders recalled that Rao had met the JDS patriarch HD Deve Gowda in Bengaluru just before the elections to discuss his regional front idea and extended his full support to the JDS in the elections, he was not happy with the turn of events leading to the formation of JDS-Congress alliance. Though many other regional satraps, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati, were also likely to attend Kumarswamy’s swearing in, TRS leaders say that Rao attending the function will send a wrong signal. They say that Rao was pursuing the idea of a front of non-BJP and non-Congress parties and attending the programme in Bengaluru will not be helpful for his idea. In contrast to the silence of the TRS, Telangana Congress was ebullient over the defeat of the BJP and victory of Congress-JDS alliance in the power struggle in neighbouring Karnataka. State Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy described it “the beginning of Congress victory in 2019 elections”. He expressed confidence that what happened in Karnataka will help Congress in Telangana too. The failure of the BJP to form the government in Karnataka will boost the morale of Congress in Telangana, he said. “I salute the MLAs of Congress and JDS for saving democracy by not getting lured by the sops offered by the BJP”, he said.

Meanwhile in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh the ruling Telugu Desam Party wholeheartedly welcomed the defeat of the BJP.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is likely to attend the swearing in ceremony in Bengaluru said Yeddyurrappa’s resignation was the fulfilment of the people’s verdict.

“People are happy because the BJP’s claim to form the government were defeated. They had promised much for Andhra Pradesh at the time of elections but after four years they betrayed the people. This is how the people will teach lesson when the parties fail to fulfil promises”.

Directly targeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP President Amit Shah, Naidu said they tried to denigrate democracy. “What message did they give to the nation by encouraging the corrupt? BJP bribed up to Rs10,000 for each vote in Karnataka elections and brought back tainted Gali Janardhan Reddy to the party fold. They misused the institution of governor”, he said.