Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent tour of Nizamabad in north Telangana would have been viewed as yet another public meeting but for his sensational charge that Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had met him in New Delhi with a request to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The timing of this comment (the Telangana Assembly elections are scheduled in late November) led to a frenzy of political activity.
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The Prime Minister also said that Mr. Rao was keen to forge an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2020 Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation civic polls and that he wanted to step down in favour of his son, K.T. Rama Rao, as the next Chief Minister of the State. These charges have been strongly denied by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leadership.
Mr. Rao is yet to react to Mr. Modi’s comment. It was BRS working president and Information Technology and Industries Minister Mr. Rama Rao who launched a scathing counter attack saying that the Prime Minister had lowered the stature of his position by “lying”. He asserted that Mr. Rao is a fighter who would never associate with a “cheater” like Mr. Modi.
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The Congress, which is hoping to replicate its Karnataka victory in Telangana, found an opportunity to take forward its campaign against the BRS-BJP combine. It alleged yet again that the two parties supported each other and that Mr. Modi himself had admitted to what it called an “unholy nexus”. There has been strong speculation in political circles that the BRS and BJP leadership had a tacit understanding that would translate into a win-win situation for both of them during the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
There appears to be a pattern to these developments. A few months ago, State BJP chief and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, a strong critic of Mr. Rao and his party, was suddenly ousted and replaced with the soft-spoken Union Minister, G. Kishan Reddy. This was widely viewed as part of a larger understanding between the two parties. A group of BJP seniors themselves believe that the change occurred at the behest of the BRS leadership. The BJP leadership has also been unable to convince its cadres and the general public about why no action was taken against BRS MLC and Mr. Rao’s daughter, K. Kavitha, by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi liquor scam. A number of senior BJP leaders are irked by what they perceive is a soft stand of the Delhi leadership against the BRS leadership.
Mr. Modi chose to target the BRS on three counts. First, that Mr. Rao wants to join the NDA bloc; second, that he had suggested an alliance with the BJP during the GHMC elections; and third, that making Mr. Rama Rao Chief Minister would only show that the BRS is a family party. However, the political advantage that the BJP would get through these allegations is minimal because the party is struggling to combat internal dissension. Moreover, the State BJP has failed to build on Mr. Modi’s narrative and take these issues to the people. A few statements alone, even if they are made by the Prime Minister, cannot set the political narrative.
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Unless the BJP central leadership sets its house in order in Telangana, its efforts to come to power may not fructify. Also, any bid to take action against Ms. Kavitha in the alleged Delhi liquor scam may be counter productive and give undue advantage to the BRS so close to the elections.
These comments also may not cut ice as the BRS chief has been vocal about maintaining equidistance from the BJP and the Congress. The charge that the BRS wanted an alliance with the BJP in the GHMC elections is not convincing since the regional party had seen a landslide victory in the 2018 Assembly elections. The charge of family rule also may not stick with the electorate as the kith and kin of several BJP leaders and NDA partners are in key political positions.
The Congress is expected to take political advantage of this verbal duel between the BRS and the BJP but it has to be seen which party it would like to project as a bigger foe in the run-up to the elections. One thing is clear though: Mr. Modi has given enough ammunition for all the three parties to go all out against each other.
ravi.reddy@thehindu.co.in