A towering determine of Telangana politics because the state’s inception in 2014, the state’s first Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief Okay Chandrashekar Rao, popularly often known as KCR, has largely stayed away from public life since his occasion was handed a crushing defeat by the Congress within the 2023 Meeting polls.
Whereas his “absence” has attracted the ridicule of political opponents, who usually have criticised him for operating affairs from his farmhouse in Erravalli in Siddipet district, KCR final week hinted at making a “comeback”. “I’m watching (the Congress authorities’s strikes) keenly and silently. There’s rising discontent in opposition to the Revanth Reddy authorities and we’ll hit again exhausting,” the previous Telangana Chief Minister informed the BRS cadre at a gathering on January 31.
Even because the BRS chief introduced that the occasion would maintain a public assembly later this month over the Congress authorities’s misrule, Reddy retorted, evaluating KCR to “demonetised forex”, saying, “It had worth previously and it has no worth now.”
For the reason that 2023 defeat, KCR has not been seen in public steadily, barring just a few occasions within the Meeting and through the marketing campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, the place he held a bus yatra. In KCR’s lengthy absence, his son and BRS working president Okay T Rama Rao, popularly often known as KTR, and senior occasion leaders akin to T Harish Rao and Okay Kavitha have been holding the fort, steadily focusing on the Congress authorities over its allegedly unfulfilled guarantees. Final week, KTR held a “Rythu Maha Dharna” in Nalgonda and accused the Reddy authorities of “conspiring to disclaim farmers monetary assist underneath the Rythu Bharosa scheme”. Nonetheless, the query of why KCR took a “step again” following the BRS’s defeat stays unanswered.
Based on BRS insiders, the previous CM has been energetic however simply “not seen to the general public eye”. “He has been pulling the strings from behind the scenes. All the things that the occasion does is authorized by KCR. He’s very a lot in motion,” a celebration employee mentioned. It’s broadly believed that KCR has been “guiding” KTR and Kavitha from behind the scenes.
A bit of occasion leaders says that KCR took a step again to make sure that the brother-sister duo study the “tips of the commerce away from his towering shadow”, with some likening him to former Tamil Nadu CM late M Karunanidhi. “Karunanidhi continued to be the president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam even after M Okay Stalin (the present CM) took over the reins. Why shouldn’t KCR give an opportunity to his son to do the identical?” a frontrunner requested.
One other part of the occasion believes that the previous Telangana CM is spending time to “recalibrate” his political comeback. Based on them, KCR likes a “grand re-entry” and isn’t somebody who will retire for his youngsters.
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There’s a sturdy buzz within the state’s political circles about KCR’s actions having to do with the BRS’s equations with the BJP, which made important positive factors in Telangana in final yr’s Lok Sabha polls, primarily on the expense of the occasion. The BJP doubled its tally to eight whereas its vote share elevated from 19.6% to round 35% even because the BRS drew a clean and noticed its vote share dip from 41.7% in 2019 to 16.7%.
Is BJP the explanation?
The previous CM’s absence from the general public eye has led to diversified speculations. Whereas there’s a perception that the BJP’s positive factors have largely “nullified” KCR’s energy in Telangana, just a few within the Congress declare that the BRS has a “tacit understanding with the BJP”, a cost usually levelled in opposition to the regional occasion by senior Congress leaders, together with Reddy.
“There is just one method by which the BRS can come again to energy. It has to win again voters from the BJP. When there isn’t a effort to make this occur, it’s doable that there’s an understanding between the 2 events,” a Congress chief mentioned.
One other supply mentioned that KCR’s stoic silence was not with out cause. “If he breaks his silence, he must assault the BJP the way in which he used to proper earlier than shedding energy. It’s evident that KCR has not found out how one can cope with the BJP as of now,” the supply mentioned.
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BRS insiders, nevertheless, claimed that the upcoming public assembly would see the BRS hit again on the BJP in addition to the Congress. “KCR’s announcement could be very clear. We’ll strike again not simply on the Congress but additionally on the BJP,” mentioned a celebration chief.
