The Saamna editorial also mentioned how KCR's daughter K Kavitha was questioned by ED in the Delhi Liquor Scam.
KCR at a public meeting in Sarkoli, Solapur. (BRSparty/ Twitter)
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s frequent forays into Maharashtra have evoked the publication of a stinging editorial on his real political intent, in Saamna, the official newspaper of the Shiv Sena, headed by the Uddhav Thackeray faction, known as the Shiv Sena (UBT).
The editorial published on 28 June, called BRS the B-Team of the BJP, which was now trying to make its presence felt in Maharashtra to cut into the Opposition vote to help the saffron party.
The editorial said that the BRS was trying to pave the way for the BJP to divide votes by seeking farmers’ support in elections to his party. BJP’s style is always like this only. In Maharashtra, the BJP has already positioned several horses as its B Team, and now another party has joined the list, the editorial said.
The Saamna editorial said, “KCR had everything going for him in Telangana but, not satisfied with it, he entertained national ambitions by setting up Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS). National politics is working like a bug in his mind.”
The editorial took a subtle swipe at KCR for being unsure of whether he would remain in power in 2024 despite doing extremely well in Telangana by implementing farmer-friendly schemes to help them lead better lives.
The editorial also noted how KCR led the Telangana movement, without which the Telangana state would not have become a reality. It was because of this reason that he became the chief minister of the state twice. Even then, there is no guarantee that KCR’s party will remain in power in 2024.
The editorial also mentioned how KCR’s daughter K Kavitha lost her Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 general elections to the BJP, and more recently how the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had called her in for questioning in the Delhi Liquor Scam.
Saamna also brought up a newer dimension to KCR’s frequent expeditions into Maharashtra. It said that since the Muslims are now doubting the real intent of Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM — an ally of the BRS in Telangana — the BJP, which had been using the AIMIM till now, is now trying to use KCR to cut into Muslim votes.
“Is this the reason why the BJP has now fielded KCR instead of Owaisi? Are KCR and his party acting as the ‘B’ team of the BJP?” the editorial asked.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) faction leader Sanjay Raut said KCR’s visits to Maharashtra would have no impact on state politics. On top of it, he said that if KCR continues to play antics like this, he would lose both Telangana and Maharashtra.
He even said that KCR came running to Maharashtra fearing a possible loss in Telangana where, he said, he was facing an uphill battle with Congress.
Recently, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar also sought to downplay KCR’s renewed political activity in Maharashtra.
He said KCR would not gain any hold on Maharashtra politics, adding that there were several leaders like the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Mayawati and Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav who tried to make incursions into Maharashtra but failed.
The Telangana chief minister, during his two-day today visit of Solapur district earlier this week with a huge entourage following him in hundreds of cars, had denied that BRS was working as B-team of the BJP.
“We are not a ‘B’ team to any party. We are, in fact, ‘A’ team of the farmers, SCs, and STs,” he said at a public meeting in Sarkoli, underlining his sympathies for farming, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities.
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