Hyderabad: Even as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is visibly weakened, first by power loss and then exodus of leaders and legislators at the crucial general election, a school kid’s remark visibly energised K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) bringing a smile on his face.
On an evening tea break from his poll campaign, earlier this week, at a roadside stall, KCR was asked by a curious boy “when was he born?” Entertaining the query, the BRS chief asked the boy to take a guess on his age.
As the party leaders encouraged, the boy gave one look at KCR and replied, “30.” The BRS supremo looked comforted as his partymen broke into a cheerful laughter.
At 70, Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao, who some of his devotees extol as Telangana jaati-pitha (father figure of state), is not just campaigning in the intense heat to win some Lok Sabha seats but is fighting off a crisis to save his 23-year-old party from falling into oblivion.
Five months after losing power, Telangana’s first and two-term chief minister, is now seen as trying to reconnect with the people, going on ground, in what some political observers say is an attempt at image makeover.
On a statewide bus tour for election canvassing, the BRS patriarch for the past few days, was taking tea-snack breaks at roadside outlets, sipping from cheap porcelain cups and munching on bajjis-pakodas (fritters) served in paper plates, or in some cases just old newspaper foils. He was seen striking up a conversation with men, women, in some cases even kids like the above tête-à-tête, while posing for selfies with some.
Two weeks back, KCR made his debut on X, formerly Twitter, on the occasion of party formation day on 27 April.
బీఆర్ఎస్ పార్టీ నాయకులకు, కార్యకర్తలకు, అభిమానులకు, తెలంగాణ రాష్ట్ర ప్రజలకు బీఆర్ఎస్ పార్టీ ఆవిర్భావ దినోత్సవ శుభాకాంక్షలు! pic.twitter.com/X1FxmEugmN
— KCR (@KCRBRSPresident) April 27, 2024
“Just not enough to win back the people’s confidence,” says political scientist K. Purushotham Reddy, asserting that the BRS, following a humiliating defeat and mass exodus, “is facing an existential crisis.”
“KCR went too far in the wrong direction, distancing himself from the Telangana public, shunning his own leaders and even refusing to meet the PM. He was operating autocratically from the palatial Pragathi Bhavan or relaxing away in his farmhouse. As the two-term family centric dictatorial administration was finally rejected by the people, the Congress ended up the gainer,” says Reddy.
For a revival, the BRS supremo should go into a major introspection, unlearn and reinvent himself and the party, Reddy says, suggesting KCR to first revert the name of his party to the original, highly sentimental Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
However, in an interaction with the media Saturday, when the campaigning in Telangana ended, KCR ruled out the possibility of changing the party name back to TRS. There was a speculation that a credulous KCR would do so following the drubbing in the 2023 assembly election. A year ahead of polls, KCR modified the TRS to the BRS in accordance with his national aspirations.
Voting for 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana will be held 13 May. The BRS had won 9 seats in 2019, the BJP 4, the Congress 3, and the AIMIM 1.
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‘In race for PM post’
Even as various surveys, public opinions predict 1-2 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats, down from 11 in 2014 and 9 in 2019, the BRS chief exuded confidence of not only winning 12-14 seats but announced that he is in the race for the PM post. The satrap opined that regional parties would be forming the government at the centre this time.
“It is high time KCR descends back onto earth from cloud nine, correctly gauges the public mood, and makes a sincere effort to reconnect with the masses. He needs to understand the rising aspirations of the teeming millions. As polls for local government would be his next test, KCR, instead of retiring to his farmhouse after the poll outcome, should start visiting villages, spend time attending Grama Sabhas etc,” says Reddy. “For that, he should first free himself from false notions, some negative traits.”
Earlier this month, KCR was banned by the Election Commission from campaigning for 48 hours for his derogatory remarks on Congress leaders.
“KCR got reminded of people after 10 years and is resorting to some gimmicks, but voters have rejected him already and forever. Leaving choppers, he now took the bus as his car (BRS poll symbol) went to the garage for repairs. His car and its parts are outdated, and the BRS will not win a single seat,” senior Congress leader and Vemulawada MLA Adi Srinivas told ThePrint.
In his poll speeches, KCR was attacking the Revanth Reddy government even as he stated the Lok Sabha fight in Telangana as centered between the BRS and the BJP. In his rallies, the former chief minister accused the Congress government of failing to deliver on its six welfare guarantees, alleging shortage of power and water to farmers and frequent power cuts.
KCR alleged that PM Narendra Modi was stoking emotions, trying to gain votes talking about Pulwama again and ridiculed the ‘‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ slogan. He also blamed Modi for the farmer deaths during protests near New Delhi.
On his daughter K Kavitha’s remand in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, KCR said that the case was fabricated by PM Modi himself to target his party. On Tuesday, a Delhi court extended Kavitha’s judicial custody till 14 May in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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