Janjivan Bureau / Hyderabad : TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, who led his party to a massive victory in the December 7 assembly elections, was sworn-in on Thursday as the chief minister of Telangana for a second straight term. KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was administered the oath of of office and secrecy by governor E S L Narasimhan at a a simple ceremony on the lawns of Raj Bhavan here.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor E S L Narasimhan at a simple ceremony on the lawns of Raj Bhavan here.
KCR took oath in Telugu, while Mohammad Mehboob Ali, who was sworn-in a Cabinet minister, took oath in Urdu.
Ali was Deputy Chief Minister in the last government.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi was also present at the swearing-in ceremony.
Rao was unanimously elected leader of the TRS Legislature Party by the newly-elected MLAs Wednesday.
In the December 7 elections, the TRS won 88 seats in the 119-member assembly, trouncing the Congress-led ‘Praja Kutami’, which ended up with a tally of 21. The BJP won just one seat in the state.
As a young man who had joined the youth wing of Congress and then worked as Minister of Drought & Relief under the NT Rama Rao-led TDP government in Andhra Pradesh, he eventually quit from his post to establish the Telangana Rashtra Samithi to fight for a separate state of Telangana.
KCR, as he is popularly known, had realised his dream of a new state carved out of the larger Andhra Pradesh, in 2014 and soon became its first chief minister. He recently dissolved the House in September 2018, many months before his tenure was supposed to end.
A risk that paid off:
Many saw this decision to go for early elections as a clever move but not without risks. Ultimately, this decision to hold the Assembly polls much ahead of the General elections, unlike the 2014 elections, turned out to be a brilliant masterstroke. It now rules out the possibility of the state’s issues being overshadowed by national issues, a likelihood had the polls been held simultaneously.
Barely a few hours after recommending the dissolution of his government, KCR went ahead and announced the names of 105 candidates for the 119 member Legislative Assembly
In the campaigns that followed, KCR banked on the larger rhetoric of ‘Telangana Pride’ and continued to call out his former boss and current opposition leader, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for stalling the development of Telangana. TRS alleges that the TDP chief has filed as many as 200 cases challenging a number of development projects that are meant to benefit the people of Telangana.
KCR’s well-planned campaign included accusing the Centre of blocking his attempt at increasing the quota’s for Schedule Tribes and Muslims in jobs and education, harping on his government’s welfare schemes and farmer-friendly measures such as the ‘Ryuthu Bandu’ scheme that promises to give a farmer Rs. 8,000 per annum per acre.
The self-proclaimed farmer from Chintamadaka village in Medak district, who had lost the Siddipet seat in his very first outing at elections in 1983 had wrested the seat back in 1985. That victory was just the beginning of his uphill political journey that seems to have reached a peak now.
The TDP connect:
Rao’s association with the erstwhile TDP government in the undivided AP had been a chequered one. He had become a minister in the NTR government and subsequently that of his son-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu. He was also the deputy speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly till 2001.
He quit the TDP in 2001, accusing Chandrababu Naidu of discrimination against Telangana and its people. That was also the year that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi was born under the leadership of KCR. After almost a decade and a half, the TRS realised the dream of Telangana.
After his remarkable victory in Tuesday’s vote count in Telangana that he helped found, he kept up with his decade-long tirade against Naidu, by taking a dig at him. “Hundred per cent. I will give Chandrababu Naidu the return gift and you will see the impact it will play,” he was quoted by the PTI as saying, hinting at TRS contesting elections in Andhra Pradesh and winning there as well.
The Congress connect:
KCR’s political dominance in the region began with the revival of the Telangana movement in 2001. In 2004, he had joined hands with the Congress after the party promised to carve out Telangana, a state separate from the parent state of Andhra Pradesh. The TRS had won five seats and Rao was made a cabinet minister at the Centre until he walked out of the alliance accusing the Congress of not being serious about the creation of Telangana.
In the 2009 Assembly elections, the TRS allied with the TDP after Chandrababu Naidu agreed to extend “unconditional support” to the creation of Telangana.
However, the Congress once again came to power in the region under the charismatic leadership of YSR Reddy. Reeling from the defeat and facing complete political irrelevance, KCR found edgeways to slip in his cause when the Congress found itself battling a leadership crisis occurred in the wake of the sudden death of Andhra Pradesh CM YSR Reddy in a helicopter crash in September 2009.
In the political vacuum that the southern state witnessed in the ensuing months, KCR found his foothold again. Sensing an opportunity to arm-twist the Centre, he began a fast unto death for Telangana statehood. What followed was a series of violent protests and agitations, and triumph came to Rao when the then Home Minister P Chidambaram announced on December 9. 2009 that steps will be taken to create the new state of Telangana.
The dilemma that delayed the bifurcation:
However, soon after the announcement, the UPA government bowed under pressure from the people of coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema region. The Centre now felt that more consultations were needed before Telangana could be granted statehood.
Following this setback, KCR braced himself up for the uphill battle that was to follow and mobilised the Telangana-supporters with slogans like “Telangana waley jaago, Andhra waley bhago (People of Telangana arise, those of Andhra run away)”.
As Andhra Pradesh headed for the Assembly Elections in 2014, Rao’s unwavering and aggressive pursuit of Telangana saw the TRS emerge as a strong contender in the Telugu regional polity.
On 18 February 2014, the Lok Sabha passed the AP Reorganisation Act and just two days later the Upper House cleared the Bill. Finally, the President (Pranab Mukherjee) attested the Bill on 1 March 2014. The new state was born on 2 June 2014. The two new states went to polls along with the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.
Meanwhile, the General elections of 2014 had installed the NDA government in May 2014, replacing the Congress-led UPA government. At this point in time, Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samiti had 11 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats and 63 of the 119 Assembly seats.
Having realised his Telangana dream, KCR further fortified his position as a force to be reckoned with, after nearly 20 MLAs from the TDP, Congress and other parties switched over to the TRS. KCR was now duelling with the high and mighty.
Come Assembly polls 2018, and TRS decided not to tango with either the BJP or the Congress and go it alone, even in the face of TDP allying with the Congress. And the results stunned all political pundits. TRS, the party that he had founded in 2001 with the sole aim of demanding respect and dignity for Telangana people and eventually the creation of a separate state, shows that Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao, 64, has reinforced his position as the tallest leader of the youngest state of the Indian union.
