Chandrashekar Rao just completed a year in office during his second stint as chief minister of Telangana. He had truncated his first term last year by advancing Assembly polls almost nine months before it was due to end. But despite completing a year with a solid mandate, KCR is not in a celebratory mood because of the grim financial situation in the state owing to the overall economic slowdown.
There is a marked difference between his first four-year stint and the last year, both in political and administrative terms. For KCR, the first innings was a cakewalk. He appeared close to the BJP by supporting the Modi government on contentious issues such as demonetisation and GST. Yet he cleverly maneuvered the Majlis — a strong opponent of the BJP — to stay on his side. He also kept up his fight to marginalise the Congress, with which the BJP was comfortable as it aligned with its Congress-mukt Bharat campaign.
In comparison, the last one year has been more of a tightrope walk for KCR in implementing his electoral promises though he should be credited with the inauguration of the Kaleswaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. That the scheme was conceived and executed in just three years is definitely a feather in his cap. Good rains, copious inflows into major irrigation dams, improvement in groundwater table and bumper yields of various crops have helped farmers in a big way.
KCR used to call Telangana the richest state in India after Gujarat. Unfortunately, that rich state is now trying to implement various austerity measures. There is a big shortfall in revenue and the state is facing a serious fiscal deficit. Besides, the overall public debt has touched Rs 3 lakh crore. Before anyone raised the issue, KCR himself announced a revised budget estimate, pruning its size by Rs 40,000 crore, adding the allotments could be scaled down further in view of the economic slowdown. Promises like decreasing the age limit to 57 years for getting monthly ‘Aasara’ pension as also Rs 1 lakh loan waiver for farmers have not been kept. Also, a proposed scheme for monthly allowance to the jobless youth is yet to take off. KCR has also not implemented his promise of increasing the superannuation cap for government employees from 58 to 61 years. The government is struggling to adjust releases for Rythu Bandhu, a scheme to offer a cash component to all farmers for two crops in a year.
There were a few setbacks, too, for KCR this year. Though he laid foundation stones for new Legislature and Secretariat complexes, both faced legal hurdles and finally the Telangana High Court refused to permit the government to go ahead with construction work. But without waiting for the verdict, KCR ordered the closure of the existing Secretariat and moved out offices to the nearby BRK Bhavan, which could not accommodate all of them for want of space. Ministers were then asked to find suitable spaces for them to function out of in other government buildings in the capital city. No one knows how long this interim Secretariat arrangement would last.
Politically, KCR got a massive mandate in the Assembly polls and swept the local body elections. He also wrested the Huzurnagar Assembly seat from the Congress during its bypoll. Yet, KCR earlier lost seven Lok Sabha seats to the BJP and the Congress, including the Nizamabad seat where his daughter Kavitha contested. The defeat of his daughter was difficult for him to digest. Similarly, the political space he created by containing the Congress has now been occupied by the BJP. Congress leaders might have stopped criticising KCR, but the BJP has not, so the TRS is now targeting the BJP more than the Congress. As a result, KCR for the first time in five years directed his MPs to vote against a bill (CAB) in Parliament. TRS MPs also held a dharna accusing the Centre of not releasing Rs 32,000 crore — the share the state is entitled to under GST. However, the fact remains that dark fiscal clouds will not blow away soon as the economic slowdown is not expected to end in a hurry. KCR will have to grin and bear it.
Ch V M Krishna Rao
Resident Editor, Telangana
krishnarao@newindianexpress.com