Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K Chandrasekhar Rao is sitting pretty post-Parliamentary elections, nursing his ambitions in national politics. He returned to power with a massive mandate after the state elections in December 2018. To realise his ambitions, he laid out a roadmap well before the Lok Sabha elections for the succession of his son KT Rama Rao, or KTR, as his heir apparent. In effect, KTR became No 2 in the ruling party when he was made its working president. It is all a well-devised plan to make the power transition hassle-free by keeping out T Harish Rao, KCR’s nephew.
The landslide victory in the Assembly elections and the virtual collapse of the opposition has apparently emboldened KCR to believe that his party would sweep the Parliamentary elections too. He is confident of winning all 17 Lok Sabha seats along with his ally, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
Naidu’s rival turns KCR’s friend
When scouting for regional players to take forward his non-Congress, non-BJP Federal Front, KCR found an ally in YSRCP leader, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, bête noir of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Election surveys in Andhra indicated a strong anti-incumbency. Banking on the groundswell against the Naidu government, KCR expects the YSRCP to improve its tally to close to 20 out of 25 Parliament seats in the state.
With the help of Jagan, KCR is confident of emerging as the most sought-after man from the two Telugu states in the Delhi power play. With 30-35 seats in his basket, the TRS leader hopes to call the shots in the numbers game to be played out in Delhi after the election results are announced on May 23.
Will CPI(M) join KCR’s Federal Front?
The political pilgrimage undertaken by KCR to meet Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan can also be viewed in this context. Do KCR and Pinarayi Vijayan have anything in common to sail together for realising the so-called Federal Front?
KCR quite often says that regional parties will act as the fulcrum of his Federal Front. But Pinarayi Vijayan belongs to the CPI(M), a national party. And, the TRS leader wants to keep his front away from the BJP and the Congress. But Pinarayi Vijayan’s party seems to be getting friendlier with the Congress in its fight against “communal” BJP. The CPI(M)’s pro-Congress stand is evident in its electoral understanding with the grand old party in states like West Bengal.
The CPI(M) was opposed to the creation of a separate state for Telangana in line with its avowed policy against balkanisation of the country. But KCR launched a do or die battle to carve out his home state from Andhra Pradesh.
Stalin spurns KCR?
KCR planned to meet Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader MK Stalin of Tamil Nadu on May 13. But the DMK conveyed to KCR through a communiqué that the meeting with Stalin is unlikely on the scheduled date in view of Stalin’s engagement in the by-elections. Stalin had recently projected Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial choice from the opposition camp and this goes against the basic tenets of KCR’s Federal Front.
Before the issue of election notification, the TRS leader met six regional parties representing six states – Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, DMK patriarch late M Karunanidhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress, SP and BSP in Uttar Pradesh, YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh, Janata Dal(S) leader and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda of Karnataka. Survival of the HD Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka with the support of the Congress narrows the scope for bonhomie between the JD(S) and TRS.
Noticeably, all the leaders KCR met are partners of the Congress-led UPA, barring Naveen Patnaik. This gives credence to the branding of KCR by Congress as a ‘B-team’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that visits are aimed at weakening the UPA alliance partners to benefit the NDA. It’s true that KCR soft-peddled with the NDA government seeking its largesse to rebuild his truncated state. Hence, he backed Modi’s controversial demonetisation and GST implementation. The TRS leader strongly supported the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) during polls when the entire opposition led by TDP’s Naidu used the EVMs issue as campaign material against the NDA.
But the shrewd TRS chief cannot be taken for granted and that is what one can surmise from his unpredictable moves in achieving a separate statehood for his homeland.
KCR popularised the Telugu phrase by repeating it often – I am not averse to kissing even a caterpillar to advance my cause. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi committed a strategic flaw by not visualising an astute politician in the TRS chief. Her folly has pushed the Congress to the brink of downfall in the two bifurcated states.
Kingmaker in waiting?
Election surveys suggest a hung Parliament with dim prospects of the BJP under Narendra Modi-Amit Shah leadership retaining its 2014 tally of 282. In such a scenario, KCR hopes to play kingmaker as a herdsman of regional players. KCR apparently chose to reach out to the Kerala Chief Minister, hard-selling his message that he is distant from both the BJP and the Congress.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Dasoju Sravan, however, pointed out that KCR has only displayed his hypocrisy by fighting with the Left parties locally while seeking to align with them at the national level.
Gali Nagaraja is a freelance journalist who writes on the two Telugu states.
Views expressed are the author's own.