Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao on Tuesday, May 12, said that he will welcome the decision of BRS working president and his cousin KT Rama Rao (KTR) becoming party president.

Harish Rao said that he will follow the decision of current party president ånd ex-Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) if he decides to make KTR the party president. The ex-finance minister was answering questions from journalists on the matter of the BRS’ leadership after KCR.

In the past there has been a lot of speculation that Harish Rao was expecting to take over the mantle as BRS president after KCR, who is his uncle. The political rumour mill has always been afloat with stories of a supposed rift between Harish Rao and KTR, who is the son of KCR.

Harish Rao, like on Monday, has time and again dismissed all such rumours. “This issue is not even a problem. I have said this earlier. KCR is the party president and Harish Rao is a party worker. If KTR is given the leadership I will welcome it. Definite I will cooperate. I am there since the party flag was born,” he stated, clearing the air on the matter.

While KTR joined the BRS and became more active after the 2009 Telangana statehood protests before the state’s formation, Harish Rao has been part of the party since its formation in 2001. Given his seniority, many of his contemporaries in the BRS also feel that he should take over the mantle.