KCR may now be aiming for the national stage - Hindustan Times
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KCR may now be aiming for the national stage

Hindustan Times | ByVenkatesha Babu
Dec 13, 2018 07:28 AM IST

With so many regional leaders vying for bigger stakes at the Centre post 2019 polls, KCR will not have it easy. However, with his stunning comeback to power with an incredible sweep in Telangana, nobody can afford to ignore him too.

The swagger and body language of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) at the post-victory celebrations in Hyderabad on Tuesday was unmistakable. A near three-fourths majority in Telangana with TRS winning 88 of the 119 seats in the assembly means that KCR, who had gone quiet for the past few months on his plan for a non-BJP, non-Congress, Federal Front, is back in business. He made his intentions very clear. “In ten days, I will unveil an action plan in Delhi for a new national party which will actually be a consortium of regional parties.”

Given the huge majority that TRS would enjoy in the new Telangana assembly, KCR can afford to devote his time and attention to national affairs.(PTI)
Given the huge majority that TRS would enjoy in the new Telangana assembly, KCR can afford to devote his time and attention to national affairs.(PTI)

Given the huge majority that TRS would enjoy in the new assembly, KCR can afford to allow his preferred successor, his son KT Rama Rao and his nephew T Harish Rao along with daughter K Kavitha to run the state for him, even as he devotes his time and attention to national affairs. Unlike some of the regional satraps, KCR is no stranger to the corridor of powers and machinations in Delhi.

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Both during his stint as a union minister for labour and employment during UPA 1, as well as through the long struggle to achieve separate statehood for Telangana, KCR built bridges across the political spectrum. He is likely to leverage those relationships to strengthen the Federal Front. Witness the alacrity with which leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar and HD Kumaraswamy greeted him on his victory.

Those who think that with only 17 Lok Sabha seats up for grabs in Telangana, KCR could be overplaying his hand, might be underestimating him. KCR enjoys excellent equations with Jagan Reddy of YSRCP and has publicly promised his bête noire, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, a “return gift” for trying to foray into his state. With Andhra having 25 LS seats, KCR in reality will be playing on the national stage with a bigger number of LS members backing him.Unlike Naidu, KCR is fluent in Hindi. This could appeal to a wider audience in northern India.

An open alliance with AIMIM and his minority friendly image means that KCR’s secular credentials are not in question. His emphasis on a welfare oriented rural development model, with its agricultural doles, stress on large-scale irrigation projects and inclusive growth, which encompasses all sections of society, provides an alternative narrative to the perceived failures of the NDA on those fronts.

However, some crucial issues remain to be addressed. How is the Federal Front different from the Mahagathbandhan that Naidu was trying to stitch up? In spite of posturing by KCR, the comeback of the Congress in three critical Hindi heartland states means that for any non-BJP government to come to power at Centre, it would have to be either led or supported by India’s Grand Old Party. Given that the Congress is still the principal opposition to TRS in Telangana, how will KCR deal with it? Of course, KCR in the past has shown incredible ideological flexibility to manage political relationships with parties of all hues, including the TDP.

Also, with so many regional leaders vying for bigger stakes at the Centre after the 2019 polls, KCR will not have it easy. However, with his stunning return to power in Telangana, nobody can afford to ignore him. The Federal Front can turn out to be the platform from which KCR propels himself towards a more prominent national role.

venkatesha.babu@hindustantimes.com

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