Telangana polls: KCR’s statehood battle plank finds few takers this election

Telangana was carved out of the undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2014 after decades of protracted struggle for statehood by the people.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who successfully invoked the statehood sentiments in the last two assembly elections, has once again whipped up the issue to overcome strong anti-incumbency against his Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), only this time his emotional appeal does not seem to resonate on the ground.

K Chandrashekar Rao (ANI)

Telangana, which will vote to elect its 119-member assembly on November 30, has witnessed two assembly polls since 2014, when the state was carved out of the undivided Andhra Pradesh after decades of protracted struggle for statehood by the people of the region. In both the previous polls, KCR (as the CM is popularly called) was benefitted by his party’s projection of him as the “sole champion” of Telangana cause.

Read here: Congress may gain Muslim votes in Telangana: Experts

Now, ahead of the crucial assembly polls later this year, which are likely to be a triangular contest with both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) presenting stiff challenge to the incumbent, KCR has stirred the Telangana sentiment once more. At public meetings, the BRS chief has been recalling his relentless battle to force the then Congress-led UPA government at the Centre to grant statehood to Telangana.

“For nearly 10 years, the Congress party dodged the formation of Telangana state. I put my head in the pangs of death by undertaking fast unto death and brough the statehood to the region. If you vote for the Congress, all my efforts will go down the drain,” KCR said at an election rally at Boath in Adilabad district on Thursday.

At an earlier rally at Yellareddy in Nizamabad on Wednesday, KCR had said: “The Congress government shot dead 400 people during the 1969 Telangana movement... I had to stage fast unto death dharna and then the Centre succumbed to the pressure.”

This time, however, KCR’s emotional pitch does not seem to find too may takers.

“Telangana state became a reality a decade ago. What is the point in recalling history? What the BRS government has done in the last two terms is what matters in the elections,” says L Sairam, a 40-year-old resident of Muthyampet village in Kamareddy, which is one of the two assembly seats KCR is contesting from.

Echoing the similar sentiment, G Swamy, a record assistant at a private college from Devunipalle of Kamareddy district, said: “KCR should talk about unemployment problem, crop loan waiver and other issues now, rather than harping on Telangana sentiment again and again.”

Interestingly, KCR is not alone in trying to cash in on the Telangana statehood sentiment, the Congress, too, is trying to whip up the issue.

“Telangana statehood would not have been a reality, had Sonia Gandhi not taken the decision, risking the political future of the party in both the Telugu states. The only way to show gratitude towards her is to vote the Congress to power,” state Congress president A Revanth Reddy said at a public rally in Boath on Wednesday.

In fact, Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi herself made a fervent appeal to the people to vote for the party to fulfil their aspirations for which the new state was formed. “I along with my colleagues had the opportunity to be part of the birth of this great state Telangana and it is our duty to elevate the state to new heights,” she had said while addressing a rally at Tukkuguda on the outskirts of Hyderabad on September 17, after the conclusion of the Congress Working Committee meeting.

Her son and party MP Rahul Gandhi also recalled that in 2004, Sonia Gandhi had promised to grant separate statehood to Telangana state and she had stuck to her word by fulfilling the promise in 2014.

“Our party has granted statehood to Telangana for the people, not for KCR and his family members. In the last nine years, not a single section of Telangana got any benefit from the BRS government,” he had said at the same event.

Political observers in the poll-bound state maintain that the statehood issue has completed its course.

Rama Krishna Sangem, a political analyst, said the formation of Telangana was the culmination of efforts of various parties and not just the BRS, which was then the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). “It would not have become a reality without the Congress introducing the bill and the BJP supporting it. It was formed after the sacrifices made by hundreds of youngsters, not just because KCR took up fast unto death,” Sangem said.

Describing Telangana formation as a “dead issue” now, he said the people of state are no longer interested in the past. “They will cast their vote based on the performance of the BRS government. If they are happy with KCR’s performance, they will vote for him again; or choose the alternative party,” Sangem added.

In the first assembly elections held in April 2014, Telangana sentiment had played a major role, helping the BRS (then TRS) come to power, as the people strongly believed the statehood had become a reality due to the spirited political battle by KCR.

From 2014 to 2018, the BRS leadership made attempts to establish among the people that it was KCR who single-handedly brought the statehood to Telangana.

Several others who were actively involved in the Telangana movement, including Osmania University professor M Kodandaram, who spearheaded the movement in the capacity of Telangana Joint Action Committee, were systematically sidelined and silenced.

Read here: ‘Congress used you as a votebank, does drama’: KCR tells voters in Telangana rally

Hoardings depicting KCR as “Telangana Bapu” (father of Telangana) used to be put up across the state on his birthday on February 17 and at the party meetings. The BRS has been observing November 29 — the day when KCR started fast-unto-death for Telangana statehood — as “Deeksha Diwas” (roughly translated to the day of initiation).

KCR invoked the Telangana sentiment again ahead of the second assembly elections in December 2018, four months before their schedule. He reignited the sentiment when the Congress joined hands with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) headed by then Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu.

In his speeches, KCR would warn the people of a possible return of the dominance of Andhra rulers represented by the TDP, and it helped the BRS come back to power for a second successive term. The statehood sentiment overshadowed whatever anti-incumbency that was building up against the BRS at the time.