Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is evidently looking at a larger role at the national level and perhaps sees himself as a future leader of opposition parties, wishing to form a federal front against the National Democratic Alliance. He has adopted a new political stance and has been lately attacking the BJP to distance himself from the Saffron Brigade whom he was seen to be selectively supporting sometime ago. Rao has been extremely harsh in his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has taken on Assem Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma for making uncharitable comments against Rahul Gandhi during an election rally in Uttrakhand. The astute and perceptive politician anticipates that after the ongoing Assembly polls, Modi would be targeting his party to increase the BJP’s foothold in the Southern State. He has been in constant touch with other opposition leaders and is likely to play a stellar part when the Chief Ministers of opposition-ruled states meet at the invitation of Mamata Banerjee. Rao, who celebrated his 68th birthday on Thursday has also calculated that if he has to win the 2023 Assembly elections in Telangana, he has to start hitting out at the BJP and its allies. Political analysts believe that the man whose demand for a separate Telangana province was conceded by the Congress in 2009, leading to the virtual decimation of the grand old party in the Telugu-speaking region, now does not see any threat from the Gandhis or any of their political colleagues.
In fact, he has extended an olive branch to them by coming out in the defence of Rahul Gandhi. Rao’s main plank of lashing out at the BJP is its divisive politics, which according to his estimation was hurting the country and therefore this narrative had to halt somewhere. He also realises that he is the senior Chief Minister from the Southern region and understands the nuances of the political discourse. He enjoys a good rapport with several Congress leaders; he was in the Youth Congress when Ghulam Nabi Azad was the all-India president and his colleagues in the IYC included his two other rivals, Chandrababu Naidu and the late Y.S.Rajsekhar Reddy. Rao’s calculations are obviously aimed at consolidation of the Southern States to stop the BJP onslaught and also put up a united front against what is perceived as a communal agenda.
His view is that religion has no place in politics and should not be used to divide people. There were lakhs of temples in this country where God-fearing people regularly visited to offer their prayers. That is why temple politics must end. Instead, the emphasis should be on creating jobs and making a better infra-structure rather than creating strife where none existed. The Telangana CM is also expected to be a major player when the Presidential elections take place in a few months. The political grapevine is that if the BJP denies Venkaiah Naidu a chance to be the President, the Telugu parties may get a plank to hit out at the BJP. Rao is keeping his options open for the time being but his posturing against the BJP is not without a political agenda.
