The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao is regarded as a demigod by the people of his home state of Telangana for achieving separate statehood. The 65-year-old is an invincible leader whose party rode to power with a landslide victory in two consecutive state elections – 2014 and 2018 – singlehandedly. Thus, KCR emerged as an uncrowned king of the country’s youngest state by refusing to acknowledge the existence of the opposition.
The TRS leader seemed to believe that nobody could beat him on his home turf if he kept the Muslim minorities in Hyderabad city and north Telangana in good humour by sailing with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and offering some freebies.
However, the powerful image built by KCR seems to be fading now. The leader is looking for prospective allies to consolidate his position within the party and in the government in the face of a growing threat from the BJP on one hand and simmering discontent within his party. KCR’s senior cabinet colleague and Health Minister Etela Rajendra gave expression to the growing dissidence within the TRS when he said he was the real owner of the party.
The bye-election in Huzurnagar Assembly constituency in Nalgonda district unfolds KCR’s grand plan in pursuit of allies ahead of the local bodies’ elections. The bye-election is necessitated due to Congress sitting MLA N Uttamkumar Reddy vacating the seat after his election to the Lok Sabha.
TRS-CPI alliance?
A TRS delegation headed by secretary general K Kesava Rao was closeted with CPI leaders in their state party head office Makhdoom Bhavan in Hyderabad on Monday seeking an alliance. After the meeting, Telangana CPI secretary Chada Venkat Reddy sent out positive signals, saying his party had worked with KCR during the statehood movement and that the parties have some common ground.
It was not long ago that the CPI had joined the grand alliance comprising the Congress, TDP and Prof Kodandaram’s Telangana Jana Samithi during the 2018 Assembly elections to put up a united fight against KCR’s “autocratic” rule. But its stratagem failed, with KCR coming back to power with a massive popular mandate, and the alliance subsequently collapsed. That the grand alliance is in shambles is evident from the Congress and TDP crossing swords in Huzurnagar.
As for the CPI(M), it floated the Bahujan Liberation Front, a combination of 28 parties, and faced the 2018 Assembly election separately, showing little regard for the oft-repeated Left unity.
KCR, known for his tongue-in-cheek jibes at his opponents in his typical Telangana dialect, lost no opportunity to describe the Left parties as “toka partylu” – tails of other mainstream parties with no base at the ground level. But one must remember that in politics there are no permanent friends or foes.
What the bye-election means to KCR
As if opening the doors for an alliance with the TRS, the CPI has not fielded a candidate in Huzurnagar.
Political analyst S Veeraiah tells TNM that winning the bye-election is imperative for the TRS chief to assert his position and send a strong message to his rivals within and outside his party.
After the general elections in April 2019, KCR found himself on a sticky wicket as the saffron party went from zero to four Lok Sabha seats, coupled with a 20% vote share under its belt, while the Congress got a fresh lease of life with three Parliament seats. Besides, growing public discontent over the alleged non-performance of the TRS government has rapidly weakened his position, says Veeraiah. KCR promised to deliver 5 lakh double bedroom flats for the poor during his first term. But even 5,000 flats have not been delivered so far. The government is accused of failing to distribute social security pensions, cash benefit of Rs 13,000 for mothers and new-borns under KCR kits and Rs 20,000 in cash for girl children in a timely manner. The TRS government also came in for sharp criticism for its poor handling of fever cases and in urea distribution to farmers.
BJP spokesman Nelli Srivardhan Reddy believes that KCR’s bid for an alliance with the CPI demonstrates his “BJP phobia”. The Left parties enjoy some cadre and voter base in Nalgonda and Khammam districts where the TRS is quite weak. KCR is trying to make up for this with CPI’s support by taking the alliance beyond the Huzurnagar bye-election, Reddy claims.
Left’s struggle for survival
The BJP leader, however, maintains that the TRS-CPI alliance is sure to boomerang on KCR’s electoral prospects. The CPI, in alliance with the Congress, vowed to end what it called KCR’s “dictatorial” rule in 2018. If the CPI does a U-turn and joins hands with KCR within a span of one year, it owes a reply to the people of Telangana, he says.
Analysts say the CPI, fast losing ground in Telangana, is staring at a bleak future. It is struggling hard to stay relevant in state politics by latching on to the TRS. Both the CPI and the CPI(M) do not have representation in the second Legislative Assembly of Telangana after the 2018 state elections. The combined vote share of the two parties failed to cross 1% during that election. The Left parties are said to have alienated themselves from the people’s movement after they aligned with the TDP and the Congress for electoral gains.
Gali Nagaraja is a freelance journalist who writes on the two Telugu states.