HYDERABAD: Though ideally, in a democracy, it should be a battle between two political parties and their respective ideologies, quite often, personality politics takes centre stage.
In Telangana too, politics is increasingly revolving around just two personalities Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and senior BRS leader T Harish Rao, with both leaders going for each others jugular on all issues. Their rivalry, in fact, reached new heights in recent times with the duo attacking each other at the drop of a hat.
During the recent Lok Sabha elections too, a war of words erupted between Revanth Reddy and Harish Rao, which continues to this day.
Both the leaders have been challenging each other on various issues, especially the crop loan waiver scheme.
Interestingly, the state politics heats up only when these two leaders throw barbs at each other on any given issue. Even the recent Assembly session turned into a virtual Revanth Reddy versus Harish Rao battle.
On behalf of the BRS, Harish Rao raised several strong points on various issues in the Assembly, including those related to Kaleshwaram project, power purchase and Budget allocations.
While Harish was targeting the Congress government, Revanth Reddy himself intervened to make counter accusations against the BRS on several occasions.
Sparring over farm loan waiver scheme
Now, the two leaders have entered the ring for another round of battle, this time over the implementation of farm loan waiver scheme. The chief minister demanded that Harish resign as an MLA as his government has implemented the scheme. The BRS leader, in response, made severe comments against the CM.
Amidst this intense rivalry, the state politics took a turn for the worse when some people attacked the camp office of Harish Rao in Siddipet.
So why is Revanth targeting only Harish Rao, and not Opposition leader and former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao or BRS working president KT Rama Rao?
According to political observers, the chief minister is of the view that the political career of his predecessor Chandrasekhar Rao is more or less over and that only Harish Rao is capable of leading the BRS.
While a few observers believe that the CM views Harish as his only political rival in the state, others think that he believes that Harish was the key conspirator behind the vote-for-note case filed against him.
If political experts are to be believed, this Revanth-Harish rivalry is likely to further intensify in the coming days.