HYDERABAD: The dalliance between the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP ) has practically ended with the election of the President and the vice-president.If the GST issue has provoked chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to declare he will fight it out in the court, KCR ’s outburst only brings to the fore the party’s disenchantment with the NDA ’s major partner at the Centre.Though the Centre brought down the GST on ongoing projects in the state from 18% (Rs 13,060 crore) to 12% (Rs 8,760 crore), the TRS does not seem happy with it since it is still losing out significantly.The state had demanded that GST on their pet projects be brought down to 5%, which amounted to Rs 3,650 crore. On Sunday, TRS MP Boora Narsaiah Goud took the cue from CM KCR and lambasted the Centre for ignoring the state’s plea on reducing GST so that projects will not be affected.“The state’s Mission Bhagiratha (Rs 35,000 crore; GST at 12% is Rs 4,200 crore, and at 5% is Rs 1,200 crore), Mission Kakatiya (Rs 22,000 crore; GST at 12% is Rs 2,640 crore, and at 5%, Rs 1,100 crore) and double bed-room (Rs 16,000 crore; GST at 12% is Rs 1,920 crore and at 5% is Rs 800 crore) projects are for the benefit of the people. They are not Ambani and Adani companies,” he said.“We have supported the Centre on all issues in the last three years. If necessary, we will coordinate with all states to see that our demand is met. We know how to bring pressure to get what is rightful to us (sic),” Goud said.The change in tone and tenor towards the BJP is clearly a sign that the TRS will henceforth not be as pliable and, instead, be belligerent in its attitude. While the change in tone may appear at the outset to fight the GST, the battle between the Modi and TRS governments is about much more than meets the eye. For starters, the two parties were never in alliance but KCR appeared to be on the right side of Modi. Relations soured a little a couple of months ago when KCR and TRS leaders took on BJP national president Amit Shah over purported statements by the latter.With presidential elections then round the corner, both sides appeared to have backed off. But some developments between the two parties remained behind the scenes and status quo prevailed in their ‘friendly’ relationship. No sooner than elections for the two constitutional posts were over, the daggers are out again. The state BJP reacted quickly and sharply to KCR’s and TRS’s statements, provoking the TRS openly over the last 24 hours. BJP state president K Laxman bragged about 600 youth from KCR’s “ilaka (stronghold)” — Gajwel assembly constituency — joining the BJP.In the past, the TRS used to dismiss the BJP as being of no significance in Telangana even after Amit Shah’s visit. But now they may not want to take any chances. While making it appear that the attitude of the BJP at the Centre has got on the nerves of the TRS, there is something more serious than just that for the local party. The next few days will, perhaps, reveal the reason for their differences. It may not be just some irritants, as being claimed by the TRS. Electoral arithmetics have come into calculation and the TRS has to be belligerent against Modi’s growing stature to retain the shine it had gained after it succeeded in its statehood movement. There are many failures of the government in the state, including employment of youth of the state, where it seems to be on the defensive. KCR does not appear to enjoy the support in the universities that he did during the agitation.