The working president of BRS also spoke on course corrections that are needed and why KCR’s attempt to build a third front came to a halt.
KTR during an election rally.
When he is not on the ground campaigning for the Telangana Assembly elections 2023, BRS working president KT Rama Rao, or simply KTR, is walking in and out of back-to-back meetings on campaign strategies, and being swarmed by workers, leaders, and teams managing the party’s electioneering.
On Tuesday, 7 November, as dozens of party men continued to keep the election heat going at Pragathi Bhavan, KTR sat down with South First to speak about why he sees no reason for the people of Telangana not to give his father and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao a hat-trick. Edited excerpts from the interview:
Q. You are seeking a mandate for the third term. What are your challenges this election?
A. Since you are South First, let me remind you no other CM in the South has ever scored a hat-trick, but this time KCR garu has a great shot at it. What has happened in Telangana in the last nine and a half years is astounding.
This is a new state formed in 2014, and the numbers speak for themselves. Our per capita income is the highest in the country for any state. Our progressive policies on industries, environment, urban or rural development are now being emulated by other states. We started as a power-deficit state and today we are power surplus.
Our Mission Bhagiratha gives potable water to every household, and the government of India is emulating our scheme as its Har Ghar Jal mission. We are pioneers and torchbearers on many fronts, including irrigation projects and the creation of wealth for the state. Therefore, I see no reason why people will not give KCR garu a hattrick. We are super confident we will win handsomely.
Q. But you must agree that anti-incumbency is a factor after two terms.
A. Even God can’t satisfy all of his devotees. Today, I contest elections and I go pray to God, but my opponents, too, are praying to the same God. When he can’t satisfy all of them, who are we? Mere mortals.
Yes, there will be some anti-incumbency and dissatisfaction here and there. Remember, in India, in the format we all contest elections, you need 51 percent of the votes, you don’t need 100 percent; so even if there is some disgruntlement and dissatisfaction, I would imagine that the work being done, with a majority of the people being satisfied, will definitely overarch or eclipse whatever little anti-incumbency there is.
Q. You are right when you say you are a young state yet your per capita is high. People are appreciative of water and electricity supply, but your literacy and employment rates are much below the national average. Your debt to GSDP ratio has increased consistently. How do you evaluate yourself on these components?
A. I will start with the last. Our debt to GSDP ratio is amongst the bottom five in India. Out of 28 states, we rank 23, I am told. That shows we are fiscally prudent. The whole notion of debt in comparison with GSDP is something we need to look at closely.
Today, if you look at the most developed nations on the planet, they are the US, Japan, and Germany. The US’s debt to GDP ratio is over 100 percent, Japan’s is over 200%… so my point is: This whole concept needs to be looked at.
KTR during the interview with South First.
We are guided by Fiscal Responsibility Act guidelines. The government of India puts an embargo if you cross a certain red line. Let me also speak of the sociological perspective of debt. There was a time in India when a person with a job would think of retiring and having a home or vehicle of their own. Today’s generation and the next generation’s thinking is radically different.
Gen Z and Gen Y think of buying a vehicle the moment they get a job and the next minute they think of owning a home. The generational shift has happened in the people of India. Unfortunately, it has not happened in governments.
What we ought to look at in a growing state is: Where are we investing this money when we borrow? Telangana has, of course, raised substantial debt, but where have we invested it? We have invested in productive sectors. We started as a power-deficit state. We invested in creating power infra. 7,700 MW was our installed capacity in 2014 and by 2024 it will be 24,000 MW.
So the substantial investment that has gone into the power sector is only going to help future generations and our present. Our per capita consumption of power is the highest in the country today. We invested in clean drinking water access to our families and households. Does that not cut out health expenditure? Does that not help the state’s wealth creation? Of course, it does. We have invested the money we have raised as debt in irrigation projects.
In irrigation, of course, you create income. If every single rupee you invest creates another rupee, would you call it debt or an investment? This conventional thinking of debt-to-GSDP ratio needs to be relooked at and revised. We are building new hospitals and ensuring 10,000-bed capacity in Hyderabad alone.
So productive sectors, and investments into them being seen as debt, in my humble opinion, is wrong. It has to be looked at as an investment into the future generations. Conventional wisdom doesn’t work.
Having said that, let me ask you: A growing country like India — still a Third World country and developing country as some people would call it, and has the highest number of poor people on the planet. Should we not be investing more in our infra?
Today, Canadian pensioners’ money is being invested in India. Where is Indian pensioner’s money? If anything, the national parties have let down the people of this country because they haven’t invested enough in infrastructure and have failed miserably.
Today, Telangana is leading from the front and is investing in all the right sectors. You mentioned literacy — those rates also will show a remarkable turnaround in a few years because we have created more than 1,000 Gurukul schools. We are revamping our infrastructure in education across 26,000 schools by investing nearly a billion dollars.
Q. But the percentage of budget allocated to education has reduced under your government.
A. No. Our budget has grown. Percentages can be misleading. In absolute numbers, we have grown rapidly. Today, our total budget size is actually 40 percent more than the last budget of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh.
A state bifurcated from United Andhra, whose budget is now 30-40 percent larger tells you a story. Our absolute numbers have increased, percentages might look smaller and that can be misleading.
In absolute numbers, we are spending humongous amounts of money. We have increased the number of schools by 500 percent. Also, funding for our Gurukul schools goes from the Social Welfare Department’s budget and not education allocation. If you add those numbers, the funds are big.
Q. You speak about how well you are doing on economic indices but do you credit it partially to the growth engine of erstwhile Andhra is now with Telangana — Hyderabad?
A. Not really. There are several growth engines in the country, but not all of them have grown likewise. In India, cities are the growth engines — the Mumbais, Chennais, Bengalurus, and Kolkatas, and Hyderabads. But have they all done as well?
Today, we beat Bengaluru twice in a row. Last year, out of the total tech jobs created in India, 33 percent were in Hyderabad. Out of 4,50,000 new jobs created, 150,000 were in Hyderabad, and 1,46,000 were from Bengaluru.
This year it is even better — 44 percent of total tech jobs created in India have come from Hyderabad. No city has achieved this distinction of beating Bengaluru two years in a row.
For the last eight quarters, we have beaten Bengaluru in office space absorption. This is the kind of healthy India I would love to see where we compete on a healthy note and collaborate on other fronts and continue to grow together as a nation.
If you were to credit this to previous governments and predecessors then other growth engines also should be doing equally well or probably more.
Q. Your pension schemes have resonance among voters but that is not true of Dalit Bandhu, BC Bandhu and other schemes announced right before polls and are now in limbo due to the Model Code of Conduct. Were these schemes hooks to compel people to vote BRS?
A. Our concern has always been around ensuring that the vulnerable in society are taken care of to the best of our abilities. There is no hook-or-sink approach that works in politics. What works in politics fundamentally, if you ask me, is one simple philosophy that we have always espoused — giving hope to people that your tomorrow is going to be better than today under my leadership.
That is the fundamental approach we have taken. We have delivered the goods and done very well as a government and, of course, not just the present but also the future is bright. That is what gives me the belief and hope that we will do rather well in these elections.
Q. Is the Congress’ narrative that the BJP and the BRS are one and the same affecting your prospects on ground?
A. In Telugu there is a saying, Nijam gadapa daate lopula, abadham ooranta tirigu vastundi; what that means is: Before the truth can establish itself firmly, lies propagated goes around in a whirlwind.
The problem with these narratives, propaganda, and strategists in elections is that the two political parties that today want to control India’s fate and destiny — the BJP and the Congress — cannot come to terms with the fact that there is somebody else who wants to also emerge, break out of their shadows and do well. They cannot digest it. Fathom it.
So what does Modi do? He comes here and he calls us Congress’ B team and that we sent money to the Karnataka Congress. Rahul comes here and levels an allegation that we are Modi’s B team.
We are not anyone’s B team — we are Telangana’s A team. They both don’t like it. But much to their chagrin, in fact, KCR is emerging victorious in Telangana again, and he will definitely gatecrash into their party in Maharashtra and elsewhere. They won’t like a third party to emerge and do well so they do.
The Congress today, while levelling allegations, has to substantiate it. What makes them believe this is their father’s property or anyone’s property? When someone else is breaking in, they don’t like it and come up with random, unsubstantiated, nonsensical allegations. Let me add: If you have done something on your own, then speak about that, why dwell on rhetoric?
Let’s talk about things Congress has done in 55 years and the work we have done in nine-and-a-half years. Let’s compare notes with what you are doing elsewhere.
For example, in Karnataka, the Congress came to power a few months ago and it is a disaster already. They have done so miserably that farmers are protesting everywhere, letting crocodiles into substations and the deputy chief minister comes here and says we will give five hours of power in a state where we provide 24 hours. This is how absurd politics has become for the Congress party.
Q. Is this a measured stance for 2024 polls too? You are not part of the NDA or the INDIA and KCR attempted to build a third front.
A. We tried all of that and then we realised every party has its own stands and compulsions in their backyards and respective strongholds. We decided that we would grow on our own and do things on our own because it was not going to work.
In India at large, I think, parties cannot cohesively come together on some issues and then stick together for the long run. So what we decided was that we would start organically growing on our own. We wanted to test the waters in Maharashtra; we have done well in the recent panchayat elections and we will go from strength to strength and gain a strong foothold there.
The bipolar version of India… that they would like us to believe that there is only “this” camp and “that” camp, either you are with us or against us — we don’t subscribe to that philosophy at all. We have been equidistant from both camps — the BJP and the Congress — and continue to remain independent. Not just us, there are 13 other strong parties which belong to neither of the two camps.
Q. Your party MLC, your sister and KCR’s daughter Kavitha says she is championing the cause of the Women’s Reservation Bill, but that spirit doesn’t reflect in your candidate list.
A. Yes. We had repeated almost 95 percent of sitting MLAs, which is a rarity in today’s politics in India because loyalty is not something that many parties seem to respect. We have.
We will have to see whether it will pay off or not. But yes, unfortunately, because of that we had to limit the number of women candidates to a meagre sum.
Being a little defensive here, I know, but none of the other parties also have done very well on women’s representation. If you have to attribute nuksaan — in Telugu we say Tila papam tala pidikedu — everyone must equally bear the guilt.
But once the Bill comes into effect in 2029 or 2034, the post-dated cheque will be encashed, all parties will be compelled to make space for more women. We will also have to play along.
We have done well at the local bodies. We have brought 50 percent reservation for women there, also in agriculture market committees in nominated positions. So whatever was in our capacity we have done it, but for Assembly elections, unfortunately, we couldn’t do justice.
Q. Politics over it aside, Kaleshwaram Barrage damage is a matter of concern. Your flagship schemes have backlash from those losing out. Why should Rythu Bandhu be extended to farmers with big land holdings? Are these concerns that you acknowledge and do you intend to address them?
A. Of course. There will be a lot of course corrections. These are all concerns, some of which are actually founded in reality and some are just. So yes, there will be some course corrections.
Q. There are a lot of advantages of being a CM’s son. What are its disadvantages?
A. I can’t complain. I don’t think I should. I am privileged, and if the privileged start complaining, it’s wrong. I am very privileged, blessed, grateful and thankful to people.
Q. But dynasty politics criticism comes your way.
A. All of us make choices in life, and once you have made a choice, you have to live with the consequences… and I am super privileged and super super thrilled that I am in this position. If anybody in my position complains, then people would start scoffing, so I would rather not.
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