Leaders of both the BJP and the BRS have ridiculed all talk of a merger plan being under consideration, not only denying such reports in certain media outlets but also ridiculing the possibility. But, vague hints and contradictory statements have kept the pot boiling. According to well-informed sources, both the two parties reportedly had discussions recently on the issue, which came unstuck, for now, owing to tricky concerns.
“We were in Delhi for a few days recently, but we did not meet a single BJP leader. We only met lawyers of the Supreme Court regarding two cases — one relating to the Telangana State Assembly Speaker not disqualifying BRS MLAs who defected to the Congress, and second, the bail petition for our leader, K. Kavitha,” said senior leader and former minister T.
Harish Rao. He strongly denied any merger talks or discussions having taken place, saying, “why would we even think of such a wild idea? We have a role to play as a strong opposition, which we will. We never met or spoke to any BJP leader,” he said.
Several other senior BRS leaders also pooh-poohed the idea that they were considering or had offered to merge their party into the BJP, questioning its need. “Vinod Kumar, our former MP, is not focusing much on politics these days, spending time with family etc., after his defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
His off-the-cuff remark ‘anything is possible in politics’ should not be stretched to mean that we are considering a merger,” s.