KCR, by targeting the same Revanth Reddy whose very existence he used to ignore, has thus unwittingly admitted the TPCC chief as a rival.
Published Nov 23, 2023 | 5:24 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 23, 2023 | 7:20 PM
Telangana Chief Minister and BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao on the campaign trail. (Supplied)
There is a marked change in the way Telangana Chief Minister and BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao is delivering his election speeches. He is, of late, more aggressive and combative, taking on mainly the Congress — and that too head on.
With just a week left before the people of Telangana deliver their verdict on his rule, KCR, as he is popularly called, seems to have shaken off the complacency that had come over him.
KCR always wanted to see the last of TPCC president A Revanth Reddy in public life, but there is no denying that he has — on the contrary — risen in stature.
Interestingly, KCR, by targeting the same Revanth Reddy whose very existence he used to ignore, has unwittingly admitted he is the main rival.
KCR tore into Revanth Reddy at Kodangal, the latter’s home constituency, while campaigning for the BRS. He called him a land-grabber and one who did not have the finesse of a politician.
He said Revanth had encroached on lands everywhere in the Mahabubnagar district, and that he was insensitive to the human suffering and problems.
He asked the voters of Kodangal to inflict the most humiliating defeat possible on Revanth Reddy. He told them that Revanth Reddy was all set to lose in Kamareddy as well.
As the Congress is powering its way ahead in campaigning, KCR seems to have thought that it was about time that he gave his best shot at the election, though the prospects of the BRS winning appear to have not yet diminished.
With his two most hated rivals — Revanth Reddy and BJP legislator and former BRS Cabinet colleague Eatala Rajender — in the bullring in Kamareddy and Gajwel, respectively, KCR seems to be a little uneasy as it was a development he never expected.
His two adversaries are good orators. Revanth Reddy is known for the fire in his speeches, and Eatala for the logic in his arguments.
Together, they appear to have been rending the BRS government’s decade-long performance asunder, and thus, KCR is no longer on the defensive.
Till now, KCR’s speeches were more like most teachers delivering a lecture to students — devoid of any emotion. They were humdrum, dull, drab, and monotonous.
They made one wonder whether KCR — known for his wit and incisiveness in targeting the Opposition, which had made him the modern pied piper of Telangana as they rallied people behind him — had lost his edge.
With the Congress resurrecting the days of Indira Gandhi and how Telangana benefited under her rule, KCR was quick to go on to the offensive with efforts to expose the dark side of her regime.
It appeared his offensive against the Congress was more an attempt to get Revanth Reddy’s guts for a garter for his “vile” speeches against him at the personal level using the rule of Indira Gandhi as a weapon against him.
Revanth Reddy took off from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra left it when she — at election rallies in the tribal-dominated constituencies of Asifabad and Khanapur — tried to strike a chord with the tribals and the Scheduled Castes (SCs) by recollecting Indira’s days.
KCR is now using his lung power to portray how “devilish and evil” Indiramma Rajyam was, recalling the Emergency, which was characterised by the muzzling of the press and the stamping down of the Opposition for calling her to account.
He had said there was nothing great about Indira and her days. He tried to paint her as the tormentor who had the poor shot dead and made Telangana a byword for Dickensian poverty and squalor.
KCR’s critics say his combative spirit is an admission of the fact of the Congress rising to challenge him, which was a departure from his earlier stand that no one needed to bother about the Congress as it was quite moribund after the creation of the Telangana state.
An impression is gaining ground that KCR, by targeting Revanth Reddy personally and calling him a land-grabber, subtly betrayed his hidden streak of unease over the strides the Congress was making.
Another factor that probably had made him ill at ease is that the BJP, despite the administration of heavy doses of adrenalin by its top brass, continues to remain paralysed and unable to make any impression on the people of Telangana.
The BRS’ taunting comments — that the saffron party would equal its tally of the 2018 Assembly elections — is very humiliating as the BJP had won just one seat, that of T Raja Singh from Goshamahal.
At the moment, both Revanth Reddy and KCR are baying for each other’s blood. The decibel levels are increasing, suggesting the outcome of the election might go down to the wire.
