By Mohammed Shafeeq Hyderabad, Nov 28, : Telangana Chief minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao’s secret visit to Delhi has caused a buzz in the political world that he is trying to reaffirm his role in national politics by forging a coalition against the Narendra Modi-led BJP government in the Centre.
KCR, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief (TRS), had left for the capital on November 21 along with some state ministers and high officials to meet some Union Ministers to press the Centre to address the issue of paddy procurement from state.
KCR had stated before he left that he would also attempt to meet Prime Minister NarendraModi.
KCR returned to Hyderabad four day later, without meeting the Prime Minister nor any other Union minister, while his cabinet colleagues called upon Narendra Singh Tomar (Central minister) and Piyush Goyal (Central minister).
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Dayakar Rao (State Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development) claimed that the Centre had humiliated Telangana in not appointing the Chief Minister or a delegation led by K.T.Rama Rao.He claimed that they were made to wait in New Delhi for four hours.
However, BJP leaders denied this and claimed KCR didn’t seek an appointment from Prime Minister’s Office.
Bandi Sanjay Kumar, President of State BJP, stated that no one knows why KCR went in Delhi.
He claimed that the CM visited the capital to distract attention from the failure of his government procure paddy from farmers.He claimed that KCR was also in Delhi for personal work and that he was trying to denigrate the BJP government.
Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy also criticised KCR for his visit in Delhi and wondered why he was not giving assurance to farmers who are struggling with sprouted and damaged paddy after heavy rains.
He also claimed that the Chief Minister was visiting the national capital to make a secret deal for the BJP government.
KCR has yet to respond to these allegations.However, his visit certainly sparked a new debate about his ambitions to play an active role in national politics.
KCR declared war on Modi’s government over paddy procurement, and other issues relating to farmers and the state, shortly after the visit.
The TRS chief did not just send a letter to Amit Shah, the Prime Minister, and the Union Home Minister, but also led an ‘dharna’ asking the Centre to procure paddy form Telangana, set a procurement target for the whole year, and clarify whether it will procure the produce during the next Rabi season.
KCR tried to link the paddy problem with farmers’ agitation over three controversial farm laws and other issues, hinting at his national ambitions.He expressed solidarity and support for the farmers protesting in northern India over the past year and declared that TRS was ready to lead the national movement for farmers.
Some leaders of TRS tried to project it as a victory, even though the Prime Minister’s announcement to retake the three farm laws was made the day after KCR’s dharna.
Although the TRS chief didn’t make such a claim, he intensified his attack on Centre.
He announced Rs 3 lakh financial aid to 700-750 families of farmers who died during the nationwide agitation against the three farm laws, just a day before he left for Delhi.
He called the Centre’s decision not to repeal the three farm laws a victory for farmers and demanded that all cases against farmers be dropped.
He stated to Modi that an apology won’t help and that the PM should withdraw all cases against farmers.
The TRS chief demanded the Centre bring the Minimum Support Price Act (MSP) to the Parliament session that followed.
KCR demanded that the Centre take back the Electricity (Amendment Bill) Bill and warned that it would trigger nationwide protests from the farmers if it is passed.He claimed that the proposed law would harm farmers’ interests as meters will be installed to their electricity connections.
Telakapalli Ravi, a political analyst, believes that KCR’s visit in Delhi was intended to build bridges with the Centre.
“All these are futile efforts to build bridges between the Modi regime, and show some achievement at the Delhi front.Modi never allowed him that,” he stated.
The analyst noted that KCR has the national ambition but is ambivalent about strategy and steps.
“Nobody can take on a national role if they don’t have a common understanding or an alliance with others.His kitty has very few seats.
Deve Gowda-like circumstances are rare and he (KCR), doesn’t even own those numbers,” he stated.
“Telangana holds just 17 Lok Sabha seats, and TRS cannot win all of them,” said Palwai Raghavendra Reddy.
Palwai Raghavendra, another political analyst, said that even if it wins, it will still be a small player in overall scenario.
TRS may win nine seats in 2019, while the Congress and the BJP won four and three, respectively, in a clean sweep.The Hyderabad seat was retained by AIMIM.
After initially supporting the farmers’ agitation, TRS and KCR came under fire from Congress and others for making a U-turn on three of the contentious farm laws.
“His position on farm laws kept changing.After taking up the paddy problem, he might have joined to support local causes.He is clearly better than Chief Minister Jagan Mohanreddy of Andhra Pradesh on this point.KCR’s future course will depend on the response of the BJP.Ravi said that his target is currently his home turf.”
Raghavendra Reddy, Raghavendra Reddy and others objected to the Rs 3 lakh announcement for the kin of each farmer who was killed in the agitation in north India.
“But, won’t the Congress or BJP prepare a list Telangana farmers who have died due to the debt and demand compensation?” These politics can be counterproductive and have double-edged swords.
“KCR has done it again and again.
They hope that talking about national politics will distract the public’s attention from Telangana politics.There is increasing talk of TRS MLAs leaving their party and possibly running for bypolls.He said that talking about national politics is a way to dominate prime-time space.”
Reddy believes that Mamata Banerjee’s rapid political moves and winning momentum across many states means that KCR may need to align with the Trinamool Congress in order to create a narrative for his core audiences.
He said, “He can always claim it was his initiative 2019 which has now motivated Mamata’s expansion.”
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