inding no takers for his campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has backed out of his plan to hold a conclave of non-NDA Chief Ministers to oppose the Centre's takeover of the law and order situation in Hyderabad. Instead, KCR is ready for a truce and for cooperation with the PM.

KCR last week reacted sharply to the Union Home Ministry's letter informing the Telangana chief secretary Rajiv Sharma of the constitution of a Common Police Board headed by the Governor to monitor law and order in Hyderabad.

KCR tried to contact CMs J. Jayalalithaa, Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee for a conference in Hyderabad to fight for the states' rights, on the lines of a similar meeting organised by N.T. Rama Rao three decades ago. However, KCR got the cold shoulder from all three. KCR's Telangana Rashtra Samithi MPs too failed to muster support from the AIADMK, BJD and TMC when they stormed the well of the House last week.

KCR had previously used harsh language against the PM, calling him a "fascist" and "authoritarian", and had vowed to fight the Centre's interference in Telangana. But within a week, he and his party began softening their stance, calling the PM "a gentleman". KCR wrote on Monday to the PM, saying that the Home Ministry's letter must have come without the PM's knowledge.

"We are not in confrontation with the Centre. Our efforts are only to protect the powers of the elected government in Telangana. We will be meeting Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday to bring to his notice our concerns on the new powers granted to the Governor over Hyderabad city," A.P. Jitender Reddy, the TRS leader in the Lok Sabha, told The Sunday Guardian.

The failure of KCR's effort can be attributed to a behind-the-scenes campaign by the Telugu Desam Party. Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu went into an overdrive, telling CMs that the Governor's powers won't affect the rights of states. Naidu personally called AIADMK, BJD and TMC leaders to tell them that the provision was part of the AP Reorganisation Act.

Senior TDP leaders dispatched documentary evidence to show KCR had threatened people from Seemandhra and targeted their properties in Hyderabad.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu told Opposition leaders that the Home Ministry's letter was part of the UPA' AP Reorganisation Act and that the BJP hadn't added even a paragraph to it, sources said.