Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao has a political reason for everything he does. But breaking his code is difficult. Immediately after the bitterly fought Hyderabad municipal elections and his party’s support for the Bharat Bandh called by agitating farmers, KCR undertook a sudden trip to Delhi and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and a couple of other ministers.
What was the agenda? The argument that it was a government-to-government meeting does not cut much ice with anyone. Unlike in the past, the Chief Minister’s office merely released pictures of the meetings without any official note. During electioneering, the TRS went for the BJP leaders’ jugular and KCR had even said that he was at war with the saffron party.
Further, since KCR and his ministers not only supported the ongoing farmers’ agitation but also participated in the bandh, it was expected that he would pay a visit to the agitating farmers at Delhi’s gates. But that did not happen, perhaps indicating a change in his thought process. The sudden and rather secretive visit appears to have had a jarring effect on both the TRS and BJP cadre since they were preparing for a showdown in the upcoming two municipal corporation elections and bypoll for the Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly seat.
It also gave rise to speculation that the two parties would go for each other’s throats in the state while being pally at the national level. Whether or not a mutual understanding is cooking is not known as of now, but as politics is always about friendship of convenience, there would surely be a give and take if it takes shape.
The speculation is that he may have requested the BJP’s top leaders to ask the state leadership to slow down in return for any help to the party at the national level, either by chipping in with MPs in Parliament if the need arises or splitting anti-BJP votes at the national level with an anti-BJP and anti-Congress front, an idea KCR tosses around frequently. The Telangana CM had earlier announced that he would organise a conclave in Hyderabad in December with like-minded non-BJP national and regional party leaders. Will he? Watch this space.