HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and top BJP leaders in the state are watching the run-up to elections to the five state assemblies in the north with growing interest as their future course of action depends on the outcome.
With indications that the BJP is not in the pink of health in many of these poll-bound states, particularly in UP where ministers are leaving Yogi Adityanath’s company one after the other in a metronymic rhythm, KCR is preparing to roll the dice to seize the day.
He may take a plunge in the campaign, in whichever mode it is permitted, against the saffron party, to prove his anti-BJP credentials which are under a cloud at present. The BJP too is keeping its powder dry and is preparing to go full throttle against the TRS if another BJP wave builds up across the nation.
KCR had recently invited the general secretaries of the CPM and CPI, Sitaram Yechury and D Raja to his official residence Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad, where he reportedly discussed the possibilities of crafting a credible coalition against the ruling BJP.
KCR welcomed Tejaswi Yadav to Pragathi Bhavan and spoke to his father Lalu Prasad Yadav over phone, who is reported to have told the Telangana strongman that the nation needed him now more than ever.As the situation at present is nebulous, the TRS leadership is pondering over which approach it should take. One such is KCR moving to the upper house, leaving the state to his minister-son KT Rama Rao, and be part of the efforts to cobble up a front to fight the BJP.
For one thing, KCR is wearing his hatred for BJP on his sleeve. Skipping the Prime Minister’s virtual meeting with Chief Ministers on reining in Covid-19 and dashing off a strongly-worded letter to him on the “skewed” agriculture policy of the Centre are being seen as proof of his anti-BJP stand.
Meanwhile, the state BJP, too, is waiting for the outcome of polls in the north. To keep the eggs warm for intensifying battle with the TRS after the poll battle in the north, BJP central leaders, including JP Nadda, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently visited Telangana.
Party state president Bandi Sanjay who is on overdrive, earned compliments from the Prime Minister for his show when the police disrupted his deeksha at Karimnagar against the state government which is considered a go-ahead to turbo-charge campaign against the TRS. A BJP leader said: “People already perceive us as the only formidable opposition.”Meanwhile, the Congress continues to be a distant shadow of its former self.