Scene 1: A 69-year old Congress veteran, who has lost relevance in Madhya Pradesh, goes into a huddle with senior party leaders to work out strategies on how to take on Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls. Grey-haired and bald leaders are at their wits’ end as to how to resurrect the party, which is in shambles.
Scene 2: A young man in his 30s is surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd at a basti at Khairatabad, which listens as he explains how the TRS government plans to transform Hyderabad into a clean, green, safe and smart city in the next five years.
The two scenes present a contrasting picture of the current political scenario in Hyderabad. While the grand old party is struggling to prove its identity, let alone regain former glory, the TRS, which has virtually obliterated its opponents, is going all out to capture the Mayor’s seat in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, the fifth largest metropolitan city in the country.
The man leading the party’s campaign is K T Rama Rao, Minister for Information Technology and Panchayat Raj. A double post-graduate — he has an MSc in Biotechnology from Pune and an MBA from New York — and sophisticated politician, KTR is making the best use of all opportunities, as his father CM K Chandrasekhar Rao entrusted him with the task of steering the party to victory in the GHMC polls.
KTR is gradually emerging the future leader of Telangana. “Yes, he is my heir apparent,” indicated KCR to confidants. Since Independence, several politicians have promoted their children as their political heirs, but few could make use of the opportunities provided to them. KTR is among the few. He is playing his cards so shrewdly that the party cadre has no need to worry about KCR’s successor.
The first test KTR faced was the by-poll to the Warangal Lok Sabha seat. With his father’s backing, he led the campaign. TRS won the seat with a thumping majority. Opposition parties could not even secure their deposits. Needless to say, the credit went to KTR.
Now, the real test for KTR is to win the GHMC polls. The TRS supremo knows that without conquering the capital, TRS’ victory is incomplete. Hyderabad is a cosmopolitan city of 35 per cent of Seemandhra people, 27 per cent of Muslims and people from various states. A significant population of the city speaks Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam. Though TRS proved its strength in the other nine districts of Telangana, it fared very badly in Hyderabad in the last Assembly polls, winning only three out of 24 constituencies. Seemandhra “settlers” , voted against it to express anger at the bifurcation of the state.
However, in the last year, the political situation in Hyderabad has changed. While the TRS has successfully allayed the apprehensions of the “settlers”, the Congress and TDP have lost ground, with many of their MLAs and leaders joining the TRS. For reasons known only to him, TDP president and Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu gave up his fight over Hyderabad and started focusing on building his State’s new capital at Amaravati.
The Congress leadership in Telangana is demoralised following its setbacks in Warangal and the subsequent MLC elections. While the BJP is confined to playing second fiddle to the TDP, the YSR Congress party has virtually surrendered to the TRS. The TRS is making every effort to capitalise on the weaknesses of opposition parties and win over the confidence of the “settlers”. By attending the foundation-laying ceremony of Amaravati and inviting Naidu to the Ayutha Chandi Yagam at his farmhouse, KCR sent positive signals to the Seemandhra people, especially Brahmins, who were floored by the revived bonhomie between the two CMs. A BJP leader admitted the party’s vote bank had shifted towards the TRS after the Chandi Yagam.
All these developments have made the TRS an invincible force in the GHMC polls. After setting the scene for the party’s victory, KCR made KTR take up the responsibility of securing victory. KTR has left no stone unturned. He has said that he will resign if his party does not win the polls. KTR’s aggressiveness has helped him establish himself as a strong and popular leader in the party. His image as a young and dynamic leader, who returned from the US, has helped the party be recognised as having a modern outlook. His promise of maintaining the brand image of Hyderabad and making T-Hub the heart of Telangana start-ups has restored the confidence of the software industry. He started his party campaign in Hyderabad in a novel style. He adapted the technique of US politicians to conduct the first town hall session at Shilparamam and effectively answered questions from people from different walks of life. Though many of Hyderabadis are still appreciative of Chandrabababu Naidu for the development of the city, they see a young, development icon in KTR. If TRS sweeps the GHMC polls, which it probably will, credit will go to KTR. After all, more than 65 per cent of India’s population is young. KCR knows this and there is no reason not appreciate his decision to groom KTR as a future leader.