Third-term hurdle ahead of KCR before national role
That K Chandrashekar Rao has national ambitions is no secret. Lately, the Telangana chief minister has become more outspoken. He mused at a recent press conference that one could rise to any position and referred to how Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Narendra Modi, NTR and MGR created history. But before looking beyond the Vindhyas, KCR would have to first convincingly win in the Assembly elections to be held in the later part of 2023. Unless he emerges stronger, he may not be taken seriously. In the Telugu states, no leader has come to power thrice in a row. Chandrababu Naidu lost in his third attempt in 2004, the Congress was obliterated in 2014 in the reorganised state of AP, and now KCR has to cross the hurdle to score a hat-trick.
All opposition leaders worth their salt are eyeing the Delhi throne. In the forefront is West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and now KCR, besides, of course, the Congress and others. Neither Mamata nor KCR would want the other to lead the formation that they want to craft. They may allow the Congress only as long as it plays second fiddle, given its impoverished stature now.
Mamata is expanding her footprint outside Bengal and KCR is toying with the idea of forming a new party at the national level. But KCR will have to first vanquish the BJP in Telangana. Though it was an underdog in the 2018 Assembly elections when it won just one seat, the saffron party pulled itself together and emerged victorious in four seats in the Lok Sabha elections six months later. It is now very aggressive, having tasted success. The Congress remains a lame duck even now though it has a youthful president in A Revanth Reddy in the state.
Finally, it is a numbers game. Remember how the late NTR’s hopes of rising to the all-India level, being chairman of the National Front, were dashed when he lost in the 1989 Assembly polls. He also just managed to win only two of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Parliamentary polls in AP, thereby losing any claim to the post of deputy PM in the V P Singh ministry. Similarly, KCR could hope to play a bigger role at the national level only if he gets enough Lok Sabha seats at home and also wins a third term.