KCR Versus Naidu: A 'Soured' Relationship Beyond Repair

The relationship between Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhara Rao popularly known as KCR and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Nara Chandrababu Naidu goes back to the late 1970s. The once close friends have turned bitter enemies in the late 1990s and early 2000s have crossed swords once again. 

While Naidu hails from the southernmost part of the undivided Andhra Pradesh, KCR hails from Medak in Telangana. Interestingly, both of them started their career in the youth Congress in the 1970s. Both fought on the Congress ticket against N T Ramarao's newly founded Telugu Desam Party or TDP in the historic 1983 Assembly elections, which made NTR the first non-Congress chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. KCR and Naidu lost that election to the TDP.

Telangana CM 'KCR' Following Nizam's 'Fancied Footsteps'

Telangana chief minister K. Chand­rasekhar Rao's (KCR) decisions—and shenanigans over vaastu—make him seem quixotic.

A couple of bureaucrats looking to cool off with a swim as Hyderabad grows hotter made their way to the IAS Officers Club. Changing into trunks, they proceeded to the swimming pool—only to find it filled to the brim with mud. 

A guard told the bewildered bureaucrats the pool had been emptied overnight and laden with earth on orders from the chief minister’s office.

Telangana CM 'KCR' Can Blame It On 'Vaastu Obsession'!

To ensure the Vaastu of the new Secretariat isn't "anti-Telangana", KCR has appointed an advisor to the government.

Eight months into his chief ministership, K Chandrasekhar Rao has put his finger on the biggest impediment to Telangana's progress. Eureka! It is the Telangana Secretariat in Hyderabad. And so KCR plans to give up his office.

Hey no, wait, KCR is not quitting. The Telangana chief minister is a firm believer in the ancient so-called science of architecture and construction and just about every decision of KCR has a Vaastu imprint on it.

‍Will ‍BJP Expose Ruling TRS Party Corruption In Telangana?

As a matter of fact, this time any political party will easily grab the power from ruling TRS party with gaining public confidence, solving the much awaited promises and assure the easy life without much hard work. All these BJP can provide in the state if the party becomes Secular and much transparent in terms of getting vote bank in Telangana.

https://youtu.be/W1ybKQKOsVU

Time is running out for the seven-year-long dictatorial rule of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.KCR has played with the lives of students who led the separate statehood movement. He became the CM by playing politics, not leading the movement.

In 2014, on the Floor of Assembly, he vowed to fill 1.07 lakh vacant posts in various departments. In 2017, he announced filling up of over 1.12 lakh posts and promised to issue notifications annually.

However, the number of vacancies in government departments has now piled up to 2.5 lakh. There are many vacant teaching and non-teaching posts in universities even as many government schools have been closed. There has been no instance of filling even one teacher post.

No efforts were made to fill Group-I, junior college, degree college teacher and university teachers posts. In fact, except in the police department, no other vacancy has been filled.The number of districts has been increased, but no effort was made to recruit people needed to administer the districts.

For the post of police constable, PhDs, and those who have done MTech have applied, indicating the desperation of the unemployed. The number of unemployed has shot past the 50 lakh mark if the number of applicants for various posts is any indication.

https://youtu.be/UqgXe-1HHUc

A glance at the Statistics and Programme Implementation Department’s periodic labour force survey statistics or state-wise unemployed data being maintained by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy reveals that the unemployment rate has reached 25 to 33 percent in Telangana. At many places, the unemployed are resorting to suicide.Is this the Bangaru Telangana promised by KCR?

It’s clear that KCR is victimising students who played a crucial role in the Telangana statehood movement.It’s clear that during the past seven years, those who benefited the most are his family members and those nursed by him.Corruption under the KCR regime has reached dizzy heights.

Thousands of crores of corruption is taking place in projects, contracts, construction of projects, sand quarrying, liquor sales and in almost every transaction but nobody raises a voice against KCR.For example, the Kaleswaram project, which was estimated to cost less than Rs 40,000 crore, has been revised to Rs 1.30 lakh-crore. Not surprisingly, the government is accused of swallowing the funds meant for migrant workers.

KCR has shown the door to many leaders – like Ale Narendra, Vijayashanti and now Eatala Rajender – who questioned his activities.His coterie consists of all those who play second fiddle to him. After coming to power for the second time, his ego has become inflated as he feels he cannot be challenged.

KCR went back on his promises like three acres of land to Dalits, construction of 7 lakh 2BHK houses, stipend for unemployed, waiver of crop loans, free KG-to-PG education and construction of a hospital in every constituency.

The Covid second wave exposed the shortcomings of the public health infrastructure. He is also accused of diverting BC, SC and ST Sub-Plan funds to other purposes. Besides misusing Central funds, KCR diverted the funds meant for infrastructure development projects to implement vote bank politics.

The government did not build new projects, but re-designed old ones and inflated the cost many times over to loot public money.KCR claimed credit for implementation of the free vaccination programme, five kg of rice to the migrant workers and old age pension. In fact, the Centre should be given credit for these programmes.

Buying votes by spending crores, bringing MLAs elected on other party tickets into the TRS fold, repressing those who question him are some of the skills nurtured by the CM.The debt burden of the State in 2014 was Rs 60,000 crore and has now risen to Rs 4 lakh-crore.

KCR promised to celebrate September 17 as Telangana Liberation Day, but failed to implement it. Moreover, KCR is in league with communal forces who are heirs to Razakars.

Against the Constitution, he provided 12 percent quota for Muslims. There is no check to the atrocities of the Majlis because of the appeasement politics being practised by KCR.

Majlis leader Asaduddin Owaisi, who opposed triple talaq, is supporting the atrocities perpetrated against women in Afghanistan saying that even more severe atrocities are being perpetrated against women in India.KCR joining hands with people like Owaisi, who wants to see Muslims confined to the Medieval Age to protect his interests, is atrocious.People are realising that the seven year rule of KCR exploited the state.

Cracks are now appearing in the fort of KCR.The people are witnessing the failures of KCR; his popularity graph is on the decline. People have realised that there is no congruence whatsoever between his sayings and doings.

That is why the Praja Sangrama Yatra by BJP Telangana president Bandi Sanjay has received overwhelming support. It shows the fall of KCR is imminent. #KhabarLive #hydnews 

Telangana Referendum On Hyderabad: KCR

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed his willingness to conduct a referendum among the residents of the State Capital whether they wanted to stay in a separate Telangana or they wished otherwise?

In a debate conducted under the banner of ‘Top Story’ by a television channel, which prolonged much beyond its scheduled time of conclusion, KCR spoke elaborately and coolly dwelling at length on several issues. 

Though united Andhra activist Adari Kishore, who joined the dialogue from Visakhapatnam, none of the participants countered KCR’s arguments very effectively. Jandhyala Ravi Shankar, legal cell convener of the Congress, tried to put up some opposition, but KCR dominated the show owing to his stature and oratorical and conversational skill.

He has the gift of the gab to keep his opponents hear hims in rapt attention to what he says.
When every other channel was seeking to know why KCR was maintaining a stoic silence when the activity on Telangana reached a feverish pitch, the TRS boss came on a phone line and spoke to a TV channel at length. He even offered to participate in a 10-hour or 12-hour-long debate with leaders opposing Telangana.

Breaking his flow of eloquence, a call from Congress MLA from Anaparthi Assembly constituency in East Godavari district apparently caught KCR like sitting duck. At least, it appears so in hindsight, though KCR sounded very convincing instantly during the debate. 

Sesha Reddy, who won over KCR instantly by politely addressing the senior politico as ‘Anna’ (elder brother), was indeed successful in ensnaring KCR in a trap.

Reddy said that the way a majority of people of Telangana were strongly desirous of the formation of a separate State, a large number of residents of Hyderabad did not want to be part of a separate Telangana. Responding to this, KCR said he was ready for the conduct of a referendum on this issue among the residents of Hyderabad.

He countered the argument of Sesha Reddy that Majlis-e-Ittehaadul Muslimeen was against Hyderabad becoming part of a separate Telangana and said: “MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi offered three options — 1. His party wants the State to stay as it is and it is opposed to  separation, 2. Separation of the State of Telangana with Hyderabad as its headquarters.” After reiterating the second point twice, KCR made amends and added that the MIM wanted a Rayala-Telangana with Hyderabad as its headquarters. KCR suggested that the last point was the second option given by the MIM.

It is at this juncture, the champion of Telangana said that he was ready for a referendum to elicit the majority opinion of the residents of Hyderabad. Whether KCR was aware that the scales would tilt in favour his viewpoint or would go against it is not known. But what’s intriguing is what was that with what confidence did he fly off the handle to blurt of this offer, which will likely trigger a major debate in the State, beginning Friday.

His diaphanous offer exposed too many angles for the observers to deduce their own conclusions.

With 27 Assembly constituencies in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation agglomeration area and the adjoining constituencies and the latest demand by T Jayaprakash Reddy to have Sangareddy also merged with separate State of Hyderabad in keeping with the demand of City ministers Danam Nagender and Mukesh Goud, the issue of referendum, which is surreptitiously kick-started by KCR,would surely provide the necessary breather to the Congress and the TDP from the most unexpected quarter – KCR.

The political gristmills will begin churning once again. The protagonists and opponents will have ample time to cross words. Has he inadvertently provided fodder for the Congress, which is desperately waiting for an opportunity to procrastinate the issue, to bide time on the pretext of fixing the terms of reference for the plebiscite on Hyderabad?

Making a complete ‘U’ turn and becoming wary of the consequences in the event of any provocative or hate speech in the ight of recent happenings (read Akbaruddin’s issue), KCR fervently and repeatedly appealed to Andhra “intellectuals, students and learned politicians” to gracefully let the separation of Telangana happen sans any hurdles.

“We have to live together. Geographically, we will be neighbours. We have been united emotionally as two States and we can continue the same relation. In fact, there was Telangana before it was merged with Andhra in 1956. Even before the formation of Andhra in 1953, Telangana state existed,” he said. 

However, he apparently did not go into the finer detail that it was Hyderabad State that existed and that parts like Bellary, Gulbarga, Bidar and a few other districts of Karnataka were either with Andhra or Hyderabad as the case might be, for want of time and precision.

Adari Kishore, who participated in the debate, said people of Andhra would not mind if KCR became the Chief Minister of a united Andhra Pradesh and drew up plans to mete out justice to all regions. 

However, the pivot of Telangana struggle conceded that even if he were made the Chief Minister of a united Andhra Pradesh, he would not be in a position to do justice to the people of Telangana. He spoke at length about:

1. The “injustice” done to the Telangana region since Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy’s period as the Chief Minister

2. The violation of ‘gentleman’s agreement’, the Centre nullifying the verdict of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court through an amendment in the wake of Jai Andhra movement

3. Proposed resignation of Seemaandhra ministers and the retaliatory resignations by Telangana ministers

4. On sharing of river waters, availability of water that’s going waste into the sea, his opposition to Polavaram as it would not do any justice to Andhra region also

5. The 610 GO, repatriation of 20,000-odd Andhra employees,who were recruited ignoring the Mulki,  by Kasu Brahmananda Reddy and 60,000-odd employees by NTR — who both were leaders of Andhra region

6. The harassment of Telangana and Andhra engineers by Rayalaseema people in the wake of building NTR’s pet project — Telugu Ganga

7. Long history and glory of Hyderabad being the second biggest and well-developed City even before the country became independent and how it was relegated to fifth position eventually, especially after the formation of Andhra Pradesh.

KCR derided the idea of conferring the status of Union Territory on Hyderabad. Acknowledging the contribution of Andhra leaders too for the growth of Telangana, he said: “I am not denying the contribution of Andhra leaders in Telangana.” But he wanted the leaders to cooperate as things came to that pass. However, he could not conceal his diffidence when he said: “It is said that the Centre would give Telangana. Let us see what happens.” This is an un-KCR-like statement, for he usually asserts anything.

INTERNAL RIFTS, CLASHES RATTLES TELANGANA PARTY

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

It is a bitter-sweet day for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Hyderabad. The party threw out one of its official spokes persons K Raghunandan Rao and faced his wrath on one hand and ushered in senior TDP leader Kadiyam Srihari into the party on the other.

Raghunandan Rao, who also belongs to the same caste to which KCR belongs (Velama), set a deadline of 48 hours to explain why he was suspended from the party. He launched a diatribe against KCR and Harish Rao. He “laid bare” the internal issues of the TRS and called KCR and Harish Rao names. Raghunandan Rao is famously known for participating in the morning talk shows.

Focus: Telangana's Chief Minister KCR Gifts Himself 5 Crore Mercedes-Benz Bus At Taxpayers' Expense!

By Newscop
Group Managing Editor

BURNING TOPIC: He do everything with a difference and catch the eye-balls to raise the concern, people call him a visionary, politician and a man with a difference, we are talking about the Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, also known as KCR, likes to boast about how only Gujarat and Telangana are revenue surplus states. 

That is perhaps why KCR has no qualms about splurging on his office. His latest acquisition is a bullet-proof and mine-proof Mercedes-Benz bus.It will be used during his tour to the districts but has burnt a hole of Rs 5 crore in the exchequer.

'TELANGANA' HEATS WITH 'HORSE-TRADING' POLITICS IN AP

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

Andhra Pradesh is facing a massive'horse-trading' politics in telangana region with 'pressure mounting tactis'. The leading party 'Telangana Rashtra Samiti' is making all types of political gimmicks to attrack and adopt the 'not-satisfied' leaders from ruling congress party. 

With second June set as a deadline for the floor-crossing by then, the loudmouthed former APCC chief K Keshav Rao and the troika of MPs Manda Jagannadham, Rajaiah and G Vivek may be expecting an olive branch from the Congress high command. By organising defections of senior leaders worth their fault into the Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS), the party supremo KCR is trying to fortify the base of his Telangana politics.

Is Anything Cooking Between PM Modi And CM KCR?

This could be the tricky mid-game in political chess being played between Delhi and Telangana & Andhra Pradesh.

K Chandrasekhar Rao meets Narendra Modi = Telangana Rashtra Samiti joins NDA government?

True or False? The two men who know the answer to the question aren't talking but the grapevine has been good enough to set many a heart aflutter. It was the Congress in Telangana that spread the "news" by suggesting that getting his daughter Kavitha - a first-time MP from Nizamabad - a ministerial berth was the real reason for the CM-PM meeting in New Delhi.

TRS Rejects 'Royal Telangana', On Agitation, Calls Bandh

By M H Ahssan | INN Live

The brief honeymoon that took place between the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti is now over. K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) of the TRS has reverted to what his critics believe is his favourite pastime - declaring 'Telangana Bandh'. Yes, the region will be closed on Thursday, the day the Union cabinet will, according to KCR's sources, decide to carve out a separate state of Rayala Telangana. 

"Our young boys did not commit suicide for Rayala Telangana. Who asked for it? We did not," said an indignant KCR. On the face of it, a logical argument. Give us only what we asked for, goes the reasonable-sounding plea. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Medical Exam Leak, Court Verdicts Are Hurting Telangana CM's Image

By NEWSCOP | INNLIVE

It has been a rough fortnight for KCR government.

It does not do any good to the pride of the chief minister's office if it finds two of its orders struck down within a week by the judiciary. That is precisely the ignominy that Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has had to suffer at the hands of the Hyderabad High Court.

KCR's Conditional Nod To TRS Merger With Congres In AP?

By Santosh Kumar | Delhi

The much-awaited meeting between Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao and AICC chief Sonia Gandhi finally happened. In his first meeting with Sonia post the passage of Telangana Bill, KCR is believed to have given a conditional nod to his party's merger with Congress.

The buzz in the political circles is that the TRS chief put forth several demands before Sonia in order for his party to be merged with Congress.

Analysis: Will KCR Will Declare War On His 'Guru' Naidu?

By Newscop
Group Managing Editor

In politics, as in business, friends can also be rivals.This can be seen in the case of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekara Rao. TDP leaders always claim that Chandrababu is a 'guru' to KCR. 

But now it seems that the Shishya has dealt a major blow to his Guru. KCR and Chandrababu were once close friends enjoying a guru-shishya relationship. Although KCR is the Chief Minister of the newly formed state, the Andhra Pradesh CM is much senior when it comes to political career. 

KCR In The Making Of 'Golden Telangana', Formation Day Celebrations Marks Glory, Happiness & Satisfaction

Telangana, the 29th state of republic India is celebrating first formation day today. This celebrations will continue for a week-long affair to mark the culture, tradition and historical importance of Telangana in Indian history. 

A year after he got his new state, K Chandrasekhar Rao is on a roll. Reason: he has got Hyderabad.

“Earlier on, the revenues from Hyderabad the economic engine in the entire region used to fund expenditures of old Andhra Pradesh. Now the revenue is used only for Telangana, which is much smaller.

KCR Gets 'New Avatar' As Telangana Celebrates 2 Years

By SHEENA SHAFIA | INNLIVE

The second anniversary of the Telangana state formation day saw chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao take on a new avatar, literally. In a heady mix of adulation and sycophancy, overzealous KCR supporters went overboard on Thursday deifying the TRS stalwart in flexis and posters that sprouted up across several parts of the city

In one such example, a poster at Sultan Bazar projected the leader as Lord Rama. Dressed in a godly attire, and with a bow and arrow, KCR is described as 'Telangana Bhageeratha' and 'Telangana Gandhi'. The reference to Bhageeratha is a well thought one; King Bhageeratha finds mention in the Ramayana as the one who brought down the Ganges from heaven, a result of his penance.The chief minister also himself named the Rs 35,000 crore drinking water project 'Mission Bhageeratha', an attempt to sanctify his grandiose plans.

Focus: TRS Chief KCR, Man With The Muscle In Telangana

By Likha Veer | INNLIVE

Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhara Rao, 60, and his Telangana Rashtra Samiti see themselves dictating what happens in Telangana politics from now on — with or without the Congress. It is from that perceived position that the TRS has ruled out a merger with the Congress, a decision that, in turn, is set to prevent a pre-poll alliance too.

It is a turnaround since 2009, when the TRS could manage only two assembly seats and 10 in the Lok Sabha, Now 23 strong in the assembly following a series of resignations and byelections, its stock high because of the new state, the party is looking at winning over 100 of the 119 assembly seats in Telangana, and 15 or 16 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats, KCR said after a party meeting ruling out a merger.

Telangana Turmoil: 'Keep The Pot Boiling'

“A conspiracy is nothing but a secret agreement of a number of men for the pursuance of policies which they dare not admit in public”

If conspiracies, power games, deceptions and unexpected twists and turns characterize a racy thriller, the ongoing developments on Telangana in the public school of politics in AP are a “perfect political pot-boiler”.

On the face of it, Ghulam Nabi Azad’s “ugly joke” on the “timeline of one month” set by the Union Home Minister to spell out UPA Government’s stand on Telangana issue was a foregone conclusion backed as he was by the Queen Sonia and the newly crowned Prince Rahul, the ultimate Bosses of the Congress party. But behind the scenes it was a cloak-and-dagger game of deception and conspiracy of the highest order in which a sideshow (the whole tamasha of conducting All Party Meeting, subsequent deadline set by the Sushil Kumar Shinde and hectic lobbying by Congress leaders of both the regions) hogged the headlines while the real deal reached with KCR during his October sojourn in New Delhi , and assignment of roles to the separatists and integrationists among the Congress ranks was hidden from public view.

From the day it was decided to hold an All Party Meeting on Telangana, a perception was created between the Telangana votaries and advocates of united state that the Congress would, for all practical reasons, find an answer to end the vexed issue of Telangana. This perception was so strong that even hardcore Telangana votaries like Kodandaram who always is skeptical about Congress moves and his brotherhood in TJAC and even T-Congress leaders mistook it for reality and considered it a done deal.In their elation they seemed to have forgotten one basic truth: that much like crime syndicates, closed social organizations and political parties, too, thrive on conspiracies.

Away from the public glare, the seeds of the conspiracy were sown in a piffling (piffling, because no one hardly evinced at it with interest) event in New Delhi in the middle of October 2012: The supposed secret confabulations of Congress high-command with KCR, the champion protagonist of Telangana movement. Whatever was transpired in the supposed secret parleys, KCR gave an impression to project them to substantiate his the then “signal theory”. Little did KCR and his intellectual support base realize then that he had unwittingly or wittingly helped the Congress script the first chapter of the 10-Janpath coup that would subsequently lead to present political scenario on Telangana issue? For, KCR owed his political relevance to the very conspiracies of the Congress high-command on Telangana in the past and at present.

The relationship between KCR and the Congress is matter of intense of debate within the Telangana politics and it was perceived that Congress high-command would want to allow KCR a space to control the politics of Telangana movement. KCR had a similar role at the national level by virtue of being the interface between the Telangana votaries and the Congress in maintaining a “blow hot and blow cold” situation to run the show called “Telangana movement” as per expediency of the Congress high-command.

There are certain maxims which are applicable equally to the underworld and politics. One such maxim is that “my enemy’s enemy is a friend”.  KCR had played a critical role of “enemy’s enemy” in marginalizing both the TDP and now emerging political force in the form of YSRCP in Telangana region. He virtually played “cat’s paw” for the Congress in reining both TDP and YSRCP, to a greater extent in Telangana.

And it was time for KCR to don a new role for which the Congress prepared a perfect plot in the form of Azad’s ugly joke on the timeline set by the Union Home Minister and subsequent political scenario of intensity of hatred between the Congress leaders of both the regions.

Whether it was part of the October deal, a scenario has now been created, in which KCR is forced or rather directed to invite all Telangana Congress leaders to join TRS and to say that the onus is on him to get them re-elected in 2014 elections. A scenario was scripted through utterances of Azad, the Congress is not inclined to concede Telangana as of now, to force Telangana Congress leaders to rebel against the high-command and seek refuge with KCR to consolidate their political future. Given the intense huddles and deliberations among Telangana congress leaders, the pins are now falling perfectly in the grooves and the actors enacting their roles, as scripted by 10-Janpath.

To the above cauldron was added the sudden coming together of integrationists among Congress ranks on the platform of Undavalli Arun’s “ Jai Andhra Pradesh” meeting at Rajahmundry which would not have been possible but for the conspiracy of 10-Janpath. Coming just two days after Azad’s ugly utterance, this was just the stroke of reason that the Telangana Congress men were looking for. This was a deliberate ploy by the 10-Janpath to create further divisions between the Integrationists and separatists.

Given the leading questions of both Vylar Ravi and Azad thrown at both Seemanadhra and Telangana Congress leaders about their likely performance in the 2014 elections, one is drawn to surmise that the Congress high-command is fretful about its prospects in the 2014 elections and not about the people of the state.

Hence, the conspiracy to create a level playing space to both the integrationists and separatists to face the people with their respective slogans of united and separate states.

But the position of the high-command has always towered over these factions and feuds. It is a practice for the high-command to tacitly encourage in a fight as Political polarization on regional lines would benefit it for various reasons – from finding allies like KCR and even YSRCP in the other region. This was evident at Undavlli’s Jai Andhra Pradesh meet, wherein, the Congress leaders lashed at TDP for seeking to divide the state and not uttered a word about YSRCP though the party said that it was respecting the “sentiment” of the people in the region and wanted the Centre to take an early decision.

And that has a sinister foreboding for the Congress where leaders divided on regional lines are fascinated by the motto of Mario Puzo’s Godfather: Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Will Congress succeed in its sinister game plan?  Aren’t politics turning into perfect political pot-boilers in AP?

Hitchcock must be regretting in his grave for having missed to conceive such a grand plot during his life time.

‍Why ‍KCR Plans To Revive Much-Sought 'Federal Front' Plans?

Going by the size of the entourage and the ongoing churn in the opposition camp at the national level, it appears that Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, during his visit to Delhi on 2nd September, may tie up the loose ends of his Federal Front formation.Officially speaking, KCR is going to Delhi to lay the foundation stone for the construction of TRS office building in Delhi. The Centre had allotted 1,200 sq yards of land for TRS office at Vasanth Vihar in Delhi.

In the recent TRS state committee meeting, the party leadership had decided to go ahead with the construction of an impressive party office in Delhi. KCR will lay the foundation stone in the presence of TRS MLAs, MLCs, MPs and members of the State Executive Committee. According to CMO, the Chief Minister will leave for Delhi on 1st September and return to Hyderabad on 3rd September.

At the national level, former Union minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have initiated steps to unite 'anti -BJP forces' to fight with BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections. KCR perhaps thinks that the political atmosphere in the country is presently in favour of those whom he had previously  envisaged as part of his Federal Front: 'anti BJP' and 'anti Congress' forces. The image of BJP, notwithstanding the pull of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is fading. At the same time, the Congress, despite being a pan-India party, is not in a position to regain its lost ground by taking advantage of the present political situation.  

KCR is of the considered view that time is ripe to meet some political leaders at the national level who are against BJP and Congress on this occasion. KCR is also thinking of inviting some leaders to the function, but the problem is that the Delhi government has been strictly implementing Covid protocol with regard to any functions. Since it is not possible for KCR to gather all the leaders, he is also considering separate meetings with some of them to discuss the political agenda.

Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee are in favour of the Congress party and want to form a front with anti-BJP parties, including Congress. But they don't want this front to be headed by Sonia Gandhi. KCR wants his Federal Front to comprise forces that are against BJP and Congress.

As for TS, TRS cannot join hands with the Congress because the grand old party is the main opposition in the state. 'Anti-BJP' parties like DMK, Janata Dal (Secular) of HD Deve Gowda, RJD of Tejaswi Yadav (Bihar) are also thinking that without the Congress it would not be possible to form a front at the national level against BJP.  Those parties have no problem with the Congress in their state-level politics, unlike the TRS in Telangana. Even Communist parties are in favour of having Congress in any front that may be formed ultimately to fight the BJP.  

Against this background, it remains to be seen which political leaders KCR would invite and how he would convince them to join his Federal Front at the national level. In fact, KCR has already discussed this issue with Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Deve Gowda, Navin Patnaik, Hemanth Soren and others in the past.  They all are in favour of the Federal Front, though not minus Congress party.  In any case, KCR wants to be active in national politics ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections. #KhabarLive #hydnews

Dear KCR, Forget Personality Cult, Focus On 'Telangana'!

K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), the super chief minister of Telangana state could blame it on legacy issues and he could be forgiven at this point since one year is too less to judge the progress of a state. But as the politician who led Telangana to separate statehood, he is surely in happy space today. His exuberance was visible on the maiden Telangana Formation Day.

Search engine behemoth Google will have its biggest campus outside Googleplex in California,  in Hyderabad, Telangana at an initial investment of about Rs 1,000 crore. Exactly a year after the formation of Telangana, the 29th State of India, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi government can flaunt this as one of its biggest achievements.

‍Why Telangana Politics Revolves Around Dalits?

The Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has announced a Dalit Bandhu scheme that promises Rs 10 lakh in cash to each SC family. 

There’s a sudden shift in Telangana’s politics, ahead of a crucial bypoll, with the focus now on the “empowerment” of the Dalit community in the state.  
 
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, or KCR as he is known, set the tone in late June when he announced a ‘Dalit Bandhu (empowerment)’ scheme, in which he promised Rs 10 lakh through direct bank transfer to every Scheduled Caste family in the state. The money, according to the scheme, was to help with entrepreneurship within the community. 

The scheme was to be launched on 16 August at Huzurabad, which is up for a bypoll, but after the chief minister faced flak from the opposition, it was unveiled at Vasalamarri village in Yadadri district on 4 August.  

The state government Monday, however, issued orders to implement the scheme in Huzurabad and released Rs 500 crore for it. This, even as the notification for the bypoll is still awaited.

The Congress, which has slammed the chief minister’s scheme as an election stunt, Monday launched a month-long Dalit-Adivasi Dandora (drive). Rahul Gandhi is expected to take part in the event sometime in September. 

Congress leader Dasoju Sravan told #KhabarLive that the drive is meant to “empower” Dalits and Adivasis and make them aware of their land rights, which he alleged was being ignored by the government. 

“Today the chief minister suddenly wants to become the messiah of Dalits. Why were earlier promises not kept? Why did he not use the funds allocated under SC/ST sub-plan for the community and instead diverted them for his magnum projects like Kaleshwaram (irrigation project)?” Sravan alleged.

“Also, no more than one lakh of the nine lakh applications received by the SC Finance Corporation in the last seven years have been cleared. Does he have a timeframe on when ideally would he be able to give Dalit Bandhu to all families in the state?”

In keeping with the trend, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has no presence in the state, received a fillip Sunday, when former IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar, who played an instrumental role in revamping Telangana’s social welfare residential educational institutions during his tenure, joined the party. The BSP event at Nalgonda, to mark Kumar’s induction, reportedly saw the participation of around 2 lakh people.

‘BJP pressure pushing CM’

While the BJP has not really announced any major plans for Dalits in the state, its Huzurabad candidate is Eatala Rajender, the ousted minister of the KCR cabinet and a one-time close aide of the chief minister. 

Rajender, the former Huzurabad MLA, hails from a Backward Caste (BC) and has been reportedly touching the feet of those from the Dalit community as part of his campaign.  

Experts told #KhabarLive that Rajender is one of the prime reasons for KCR’s Dalit outreach. They added that certain sections of the BC vote may rally behind the former minister, seen as a strong leader in the community.
Apart from Rajender, the BJP has other prominent BC leaders in Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind and its state unit president Bandi Sanjay, one of KCR’s most vocal critics.

“All the parties, including the chief minister, are preparing for the 2023 elections. The BC and SC/ST population together easily make up 50 per cent of the state’s population,” Prof. Gali Vinod Kumar of Osmania University told #KhabarLive.

“The BJP has been trying to woo the BC community for a long time now and traditionally Dalits are a Congress vote-bank,” he added. “With Revanth Reddy’s rise as new PCC chief, they (Dalits) may look to the party for hope. So for the CM, the Dalit vote-bank is crucial, and he is trying to woo them.” 

According to senior political analyst Telakapalli Ravi, KCR’s Dalit scheme is a “masterstroke”, to which the other parties have to respond. He, however, added that the move is also because of KCR’s fear that the BCs may rally behind Rajender.

“There are a lot of unkept promises from the chief minister’s side, coupled with his fear of a split in the BC vote. So, this is a move to safeguard the Dalit vote-bank,” Ravi said. “Not just Huzurabad, this is a step for the next elections in the state. After all, Dalits are easily 17 per cent of the population.” 
Ravi also pointed out that KCR has a history of rolling out schemes before elections. 

“Before every election, KCR doles out schemes for different communities. There are schemes for BCs and the shepherd community among others. So, this is like one of his pre-poll promises,” Ravi added. “But this time, he has doled out such a large scheme that nobody thought of. The maximum that the opposition can question now is the timing of the scheme, not the scheme as such. That would work against them. At the end of the day it is a welfare scheme, isn’t it?” 

KCR’s Dalit outreach

KCR’s Dalit Bandhu scheme promises to bring ‘qualitative change’ in the community and will be extended to 100 families in each of the state’s 119 constituencies in the first phase. 

The government has estimated that at least 13 lakh SC families would be eligible for the Dalit Bandhu scheme. Dalits make up 17 per cent of the state’s total voting population.

The state government has reportedly started a survey to identify beneficiaries. Government teams have been asked to collect sub-caste details, educational and employment details of families.  

The KCR government has set aside a budget of Rs 1,200 crore. In fact, the chief minister has also said that he is ready to spend Rs 1 lakh crore to implement the scheme. The figure is roughly 50 per cent of the state’s annual budget. 

The chief minister, who faces criticism of being an autocrat, and even being inaccessible to his own ministers, had in June called for an all-party meeting for the first time since he took over in the state, following which the decision was taken. 

But this isn’t the first time that KCR has looked to woo the state’s Dalits. In the run-up to the 2014 assembly elections, he had promised to appoint a member of the Dalit community as the chief minister if his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was voted to power.

The chief minister, at the time of the Telangana agitation, also promised three acres of land to each Dalit family. He launched the land distribution programme amid much fanfare in 2014 but according to data of 2019, the last available, a mere 6,000 of the 3.3 lakh beneficiaries have benefitted.  

While his latest Dalit Bandhu scheme has also drawn flak from the opposition, KCR has responded to the criticism, saying his party is not a monastery and neither were his party-men living as monks in the Himalayas. #KhabarLive #hydnews