HYDERABAD: Even as the BRS gears up for the April 27 plenary to kick-start its silver jubilee celebrations and chalk out a strategy for its revival, the absence of MLA T Harish Rao from the thick of action has sparked a discussion within the pink party.
Considered the party’s troubleshooter and its supremo and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s go-to man to deal with any kind of situation, Harish was not in the picture when the party finalised the venue of the public meeting to be held in Warangal during the plenary.
Interestingly, it was Harish Rao who was overseeing the arrangements initially for the all-important event. In fact, he visited the place for four consecutive days to identify a suitable venue.
To the surprise of many party cadre and leaders, the legislator from Siddipet had no say when the party decided to change the meeting venue.
Now, the fact that other leaders like Pochampally Srinivas Reddy, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, Peddi Sudharshan and Vinay Bhaskar have been given the responsibility of overseeing the arrangements has led to a discussion in the party circles.
The question on everyone’s lips is: Why has Harish Rao been relieved of the responsibility of overseeing the arrangements for the meeting and why is he not participating in preparatory meetings, except those related to erstwhile Medak district?
While this has led to several rumours among the party workers, it is also creating tension among the former minister’s followers.
Key leaders on the move
Meanwhile, the other key leaders of the party, including BRS working president KT Rama Rao and MLC K Kavitha, are actively participating in preparatory meetings across the state.
Kavitha, who is also the founder of Bharath Jagruthi, has been touring the state extensively, drawing significant attention from the people and within the party. Her visits to districts, which are aimed at raising BC issues and reaching out to the BC communities, are even overshadowing the efforts of Rama Rao, whose presence in the districts is comparatively limited.
For example, Rama Rao visited Nalgonda, Karimnagar and Rangareddy, including areas under the GHMC limits, to conduct preparatory meetings with present and past MLAs.
On the other hand, Kavitha has been touring erstwhile Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam and Mahbubnagar districts. During these visits, she has been mainly focusing on issues of BCs as
well as those concerning the party. She has also been targeting the ruling Congress as well as Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
The MLC has also been personally visiting the residences of party cadre, urging them to work for the success of the Warangal meeting, which according to sources, shows how she is trying to create her own space in the party.
Time with unwell dad
Party insiders, meanwhile, are attributing Harish’s “absence from action” to his desire to spend more time with his father, who reportedly has been unwell for the past few days.
They, however, added that the former minister is regularly visiting Siddipet, Sangareddy, Zaheerabad, Medak, Dubbak, Patancheru and other places.
A senior leader and former minister, meanwhile, said that there is no need to look for any negative aspects within the party as all the leaders, including the present and former MLAs and MPs, are working hard to ensure the success of the Warangal meeting.
“KCR is fully focused and regularly conducting review meetings with leaders from every district on the party’s silver jubilee celebrations and the public meeting. He is instructing all leaders on the nature of arrangements that should be made and how to make the public meeting a grand success,” the leader added.