Key Points

Addressing a press conference here, BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao said that as there is no option of NOTA in the election, the party decided to abstain.

He recalled that the BRS had offered to support the alliance that assures the supply of 2 lakh tonnes of urea to Telangana. He said that since neither the NDA nor the INDIA bloc came forward to bring the required urea for Telangana farmers, the party decided to abstain from voting.

KTR had stated on August 20 that the BRS will support the formation, which can ensure the supply of urea to meet the requirements of farmers.

Stating that BRS was not aligned with NDA or the INDIA bloc, he said that it is an independent party.

"We are an independent party. We have no bosses in Delhi. The people of Telangana are our only bosses," he said.

KTR had also stated that neither the NDA nor the INDIA bloc approached the BRS for support.

The party took a decision on the Vice-Presidential election after a discussion with MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other leaders.

The BRS has four members in the Rajya Sabha, but it has no representation in the Lok Sabha.

KTR declined to answer queries about her sister K. Kavitha, who resigned from the BRS last week after being suspended from the party by BRS President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR).

"Since the party has discussed the issue and taken a decision, there is no need to make any comment," he said.

Kavitha was suspended from the party for anti-party activities after she made sweeping allegations against her cousins – former minister T. Harish Rao and former MP J. Santosh Kumar, blaming them for the corruption tag to KCR.

Kavitha made the allegations after the Congress government in the state decided to hand over to the CBI the case relating to alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram irrigation project constructed during the BRS rule.

- IANS