“If it is election time, he has to grow a beard and appear like Rabindranath Tagore....If it is Tamil Nadu, he must wear a lungi (sic), what is this? ... What does the country get with these kind of gimmicks, what does the country get? If it is the Punjab election, he will wear a pagdi (turban). In Manipur, it will be a Manipuri cap, in Uttarakhand, it will be another topi (cap), how many caps like this?” This was the uncharacteristically jibe on India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Telangana’s Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao or KCR earlier this month.
Days later, citing ill health, the Chief Minister did not receive the Prime Minister when he arrived for an event in Hyderabad. KCR’s attacks on the PM have raised eyebrows for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that his party, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, or the TRS, has been a quasi ally of the BJP on many key issues in parliament over the years, helping the centre pass important legislation in the upper house or the Rajya Sabha, where it does not have a majority.
TRS MPs even disrupted Parliament’s Winter Session late last year over the paddy procurement issue, and the party signed an opposition joint statement condemning the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs.
Even though he publicly denies it, KCR is now clearly eyeing a larger national role for himself, as he and other regional satraps like Mamata Banerjee, see themselves filling a void vacated by the Congress.
Looking at a national role
As India votes in 5 states this month, including the largest state of Uttar Pradesh, the next few months will determine what kind of political opposition takes shape against BJP at the national level. KCR’s attempts to forge a Third Front fell apart in the 2019 general election. He shelved his ambitions thereafter only to see them re emerge in the last few months.
As part of efforts to bring non BJP and non Congress parties together on the same platform. The Telangana Chief Minister is soon going to be meeting his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray. He has already been in touch with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.
There are local reasons for KCR’s outbursts as well. In Telangana, the BJP has gained a foothold in recent years and is mounting a real challenge to the TRS. Analysts point out that unlike Mamata and several other regional leaders like MK Stalin, KCR is fluent in Hindi, almost an essential pre requisite to becoming the nation’s leader.
KCR is hoping that a challenge to federalism will unite state leaders behind him.
A united opposition
Indeed the only real challenge to the BJP has come from regional parties. The ruling party is leading governments in 12 states while another 12 are lead by regional parties and the Congress. The Congress is currently in power on its own in just 3 states — Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Punjab.
But can a non Congress, non BJP front take off? It will be difficult. For one, even though the Congress is beleaguered with internal problems, it is still the only pan India opposition party to take on the BJP. Out of 543 Lok Sabha seats, there was a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP in 186 seats in the 2019 elections.
Other opposition parties realise this, which is why the NCP’s Sharad Pawar has openly said that any opposition alliance will have to include the Congress in it. This was his stark message to another leader with national ambitions — Mamata Banerjee — who has been keen to keep the Congress out but is currently finding the going tougher than she had anticipated for herself.
She may be the queen of her Bengal castle, but Mamata has not had quite the same success yet in other states. The TMC did not do well in the Tripura civic polls and has been plagued by several missteps in Goa where it is trying to open its account.
Ultimately, a lot hinges on the outcome of the current state polls. The next few weeks will certainly be interesting to watch.
