With Thumping win at home, KCR set to don national role

Buoyed by a thumping victory in his home State, K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Chief of the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS) made his intentions clear to play a bigger role in national politics and revive a non-BJP, non-Cong(I) Federal Front.

“Very soon a new national party may come. It will be a consortium of regional parties. Within a month you will see a high quality change in Indian politics. The broad points of agenda are with me”, declared a beaming, 64 year old KCR, Chief Minister of Telangana.

KCR, who made ground work for the Federal Front early in 2018 meeting Mamtha Banerjee, MK Stalin, Akhilesh Yadav, Deve Gowda and Nitish Kumar said “We will stabilise things in Telangana first, build on the development projects and fulfilling the promises we made. Then try and gie a new definition to national politics which is in a state of confusion”

By defeating the Praja Front, an opportunistic alliance and the BJP, Telangana has shown the way. “We don’t have any bosses or are agents of any as the Cong(I) or BJP here are. We are agents of the people of Telangana. With Hyderabad as the base we will work for national politics”, a confident KCR, who is set for a second term told newspersons.

The country needs a new economic model, a new agriculture model and a new political landscape that is BJP Mukth and Cong(I) Mukth. “We need to get out of this routine mud slinging between the BJP & Cong(I)”, he said emphatically.

The result in Telangana, with the TRS winning 87 of the 119 member Legislative Assembly clearly demonstrates the domination or influence of regional parties in the southern states. Both the BJP and the Cong(I) have to be content playing the second fiddle. This in a way bolsters the prospects of the emergence of a leadership prospect for the regional parties.

Among the first to congratulate KCR on his triumph today were Mamta Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, Nitish Kumar, CM of Bihar, HD Kumaraswamy, CM of Karnataka, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, opposition leader in Andhra Pradesh and also N Chandrababu Naidu, CM of AP. All these leaders head regional parties.

But, in recent weeks, his counterpart in AP, Chandrababu Naidu took the lead to forge an opposiiton alliance, He stitched a very unexpected alliance with the Cong(I) for Telangana. Naidu’s efforts attracted 21 parties (minus SP & BSP) in the first of a meetings in New Delhi on Monday.

Will it be a clash again between KCR and Naidu as it did in the Telangana State elections? In round one at the state level its advantage KCR. But, then the dilemma for the opposition parties would be high if KCR takes the lead now. Will we see another surprise of having both KCR and Naidu in the same Federal Front?

KCR does an NTR:

By winning the State elections, KCR has done an NTR, his political mentor, by advancing elections and scoring a thumping victory in the December 7 Polls to the Telangana Legislative Assembly.

The calculated gamble to pitch for elections 9 months ahead, announce a list of 105 of the 119 candidates at one stroke and harp on his wide range of welfare measures got a `loud and strong’ endorsement from the electorate. With 86 seats, he emerges the undisputed King in the country’s youngest State.

The charismatic NT Rama Rao, founder of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), had in 1984 dissolved the Assembly, after being in power for just over a year. Surviving the coup by Nadendla Bhaskara Rao, his second in command, NTR went in for a snap poll at the end of the year and romped home in spectacular fashion. KCR had joined the TDP, inspired by the thespian.

With a combination of hectic campaigning laced with sarcasm on Rahul Gandhi, N Chandrababu Naidu and proudly reeling off the list of welfare schemes which touched every family and the stupendous success on ensuring 24 hr power supply, KCR defeated anti-incumbancy and the Praja Front (Cong(I), TDP, CPI & TJS) convincingly.

Opposition big guns bite the dust:

Most of the veteran Cong(I) leaders like K Jana Reddy, Mallu Ravi, Md Shabbir Ali, Komati Reddy Venkat Reddy, A Revanth Reddy, DK Aruna etc were routed as the `Pink’ wave swept several of the 31 districts of the State. The Party Chief, Uttam Kumar Reddy survived and is left with just 20 MLAs.

In the ruling party, minister’s Chandulal, Thummala Nageswara Rao & Mahender Reddy and Speaker Madhusudhana Chary lost. In contrast, KCR, KTR (son and IT& Industries minister), T Harish Rao, nephew romped home with huge margins.

The AIMIM, an ally of the TRS retained its strength of 7 seats, while the biggest loser was the BJP, which saw its strength reduced to just one and its State President K Laxman and his predecessor, Kishen Reddy lost badly.

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