Relations between the influential swamy and KCR were strained since the day PM Modi unveiled a Statue of Equality at his ashram.
Published Aug 31, 2023 | 6:12 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 31, 2023 | 6:12 PM
Chinna Jeeyar Swamy with KCR. (Officialwebsite/chinnajeeyar.org)
With the Telangana Assembly election just months away, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is sparing no effort to cover all pertinent bases — including patching up his strained relationship with Tridandi Srimannarayana Chinna Jeeyar Swamy.
The two seem to have decided to bury the hatchet and move forward together. After months of icy indifference, the two are set to together attend a religious event — the installation of Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy idols — at Valmidi in Warangal’s Palakurthy Assembly segment on 4 September.
The relations between the KCR and the influential swamy — who has quite a following in Telangana — have remained strained ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 216-ft tall Ramanuja statue, labelled as the Statue of Equality, on the Chinna Jeeyar Trust premises on 5 February, 2022.
KCR had taken strong exception to the Union government ignoring protocol, and denying him his rightful position while inviting him to the ceremony.
It was then rumoured that the BJP leaders had tried to give short shrift to KCR by hijacking the unveiling ceremony of the statue on the pretext that it was being done by Modi.
Rubbing salt into the wound, the organisers excluded KCR’s name from the plaque on the statue’s pedestal. which recorded the details of its unveiling.
KCR skipped the ceremony.
Though the maltreatment meted out to him was projected as the reason, the chief minister had already decided against attending the event due to serious differences between his government and Modi.
Deeply wounded, KCR did not invite Jeeyar Swamy to the inauguration of the Yadadri Temple, which was rebuilt in March, the same year.
He was annoyed at the Jeeyar Trust showing him disrespect even though he had helped the ashram on multiple occasions, like providing water, power, and other civic amenities. Additionally, he had held Jeeyar Swamy in high esteem.
Sources privy to the rapprochement process told South First that the ice began melting after an emissary mediated between the two leaders. On behalf of Jeeyar Swamy, the emissary conveyed to the chief minister that the disrespect shown to KCR was not deliberate, but inadvertent.
The emissary also informed KCR that neither Jeeyar Swamy nor the Muchintal Ashram had any role in deciding the protocol to be followed while inviting the chief minister.
He also explained that the entire event was taken over by the BJP and the Union government, and Jeeyar Swamy had little say in the preparations.
The emissary informed the BRS leader that Jeeyar Swamy did not harbour any ill-will against KCR and that he was still grateful to him for the state government’s help while setting up the ashram.
KCR, after learning about how the BJP had hijacked the entire event leaving little leeway to the ashram in deciding protocol courtesies, softened a little.
Since KCR originally had a lot of regard for Jeeyar Swamy, he decided to forget the bitter past and move forward.
Incidentally, Kaveri Seeds chairman and managing director GV Bhaskara Rao, who was a trustee of the ashram, had resigned as the chasm between Jeeyar Swamy and KCR widened.
With the two leaders deciding to bury the past, KCR has apparently wrested back the edge the BJP had by promoting Hindu dharma, the party’s core philosophy that it aggressively pushed during elections.
It is against the backdrop of the new-found camaraderie that the two leaders have decided to attend the installation of Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy idols at Valmidi in Warangal’s Palakurthy Assembly segment on 4 September.
