Till about a month ago, the TRS had largely done a fine balancing act, supporting the BJP on key bills in Parliament, such as demonetisation, abstaining during the passage of the Triple Talaq Bill, and the BJP during the presidential election. to support. KCR and his ministers will use scathing remarks against the BJP in Telangana, but will become images of restraint and discretion when dealing with the likes of Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
If KCR is now keeping Modi between his hair, it is because he expects the saffron party to target Telangana after the assembly elections in five states are over. Assembly elections in Telangana are expected to be held in December 2023, just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. At the same time, he wants to send a message to all the national opposition parties that he is no longer soft towards the BJP and would like to play a bigger role in national politics.
His efforts to build bridges with nationally relevant opposition leaders were at work with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, who tweeted on Monday that he had called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and KCR to walk with the governor in his state. Talking about the fight. , Banerjee has taken the lead in calling a non-BJP chief minister’s convention in Delhi, where KCR, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray will be present. While Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan are among the likely participants, it remains to be seen whether Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik joins the camp over the Centre’s alleged anti-federal policies. Efforts are on to get as many non-BJP chief ministers as possible to attend the meeting, the date of which will be decided on March 10 after the results of the five assembly elections are out.
What shape the anti-BJP front ultimately takes will become clear during the presidential and vice-presidential elections to be held in July this year. But the intention of TRS to change track and remain firmly in the anti-BJP camp is not wrong. Sources in TRS and other parties said that after the elections in these five states, the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections will be the first political movement where the political threads will be clear. The political analyst said, “There are two main reasons for KCR’s change. One, the BJP is slowly replacing the Congress in Telangana and becoming a major threat to the ruling TRS. Second, the national importance of the TRS supremo. I have ambition to play the role.” K Nageshwar.
The BJP, which had just 7% vote share in the 2018 assembly elections, increased to 20% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It then won two assembly by-elections – Dubak in November 2020 and Huzurabad a year later. The result of the Huzurabad election had hurt her especially as the TRS lost to its own former leader. Eatala Rajender, KCR had imposed a by-election on the state by ousting Eatala from the TRS on the charge of land grabbing. But the two had stopped meeting face-to-face months ago. Though Huzurabad’s victory was largely due to Ellatala’s positive image among voters, it still affected the invincibility of TRS on the seat.
The TRS’s majority in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation also came down from 99 corporators to just 56 in the December 2020 elections, in which the BJP surprised the ruling party as well as other opposition parties and its credibility as Rao’s main rival. strengthened. The civic body has 150 seats and has the potential to influence results in at least 25 of the 119 assembly seats in the state.
This closed space for any ambiguity on the stand towards the saffron party. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came for the unveiling of the statue of Vaishnava saint Ramanuja, he decided to stay away while state BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar was jailed for allegedly violating the COVID protocol.
Telangana Chief Minister The TMC is moving at a brisk pace to push for a “federal front” with non-BJP and non-Congress parties by bringing in all regional parties like DMK, Shiv Sena, JD(S), RJD and Samajwadi Party. Analysts said the single platform is hoping that their efforts will gain momentum after these elections. At a recent press conference in Hyderabad, KCR openly expressed his desire to play a role in national politics and, if necessary, form a national party to take on the saffron brigade.
“By slamming the Assam CM for making remarks against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, he wants to send a message to various regional parties that he is a trusted partner. He also indicated that he is looking forward to working with Congress in future. Will be ready, if necessary, out of power to retain the BJP,” said a senior TRS leader.
Another TRS leader said KCR’s entry into national politics was “certain”, irrespective of the outcome of the state elections. The TRS general secretary said, “Demand for implementation of Dalit Bandhu scheme across the country, comment on new constitution, increase in SC and ST reservation, more rights to states and other issues raised by KCR will surely attract many parties and a Will start the debate.”
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