HYDERABAD: The recently held bypoll to Warangal Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana has proved that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has a Chanakya and a Chandragupta in a single man. He is none other than the party supremo and Telangana Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao.
Rao, a bibliophile, seems to have assimilated the principles of warfare laid down by ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu in his treatise The Art of War and Indian philosopher Kautilya in the Arthashastra, while attacking his rivals in the bypoll.
Putting into practice the principle that one should not give any chance to his rivals to resurrect, Rao, popularly known as KCR, used all his energy to make the opposition bite the dust in the bypoll, and aptly came to be known as ‘Chanakya Chandrasekhar Rao.’
True to the popular view in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, that none can match him in chalking out political strategies, KCR for one more time has made a hardly fought bypoll by the opposition a one-sided war. KCR’s strategy ensured that his party successfully trampled all the opposition parties like Congress, BJP-TDP combine, the 10 Left parties alliance and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRC in its way to retain Warangal seat with a majority that surpassed its previous victory margin—over 4.5 lakh, seventh largest in the history of Indian elections.
Before the elections, political observers had criticised that KCR was not focusing on party affairs and has lost contact with the masses. Now, the bypoll result has proved that KCR’s critics were wrong. Days before the election, KCR gave the charge of each Assembly constituency that falls under Warangal LS seat to prominent ministers in his cabinet. His choice too was perfect and each constituency was given a minister who has firm hold on the respective segment. KCR was instrumental even in choosing the issues that should be taken before the electorate.
“Apart from highlighting the failures of the opposition, the lead campaigners focused on issues like uninterrupted power supply, double bedroom houses and others, that directly impact the people. We could manage to take our message to the people successfully,” said TRS Rajya Sabha member K Kesava Rao.
Campaigns by Congress stalwarts such as former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, former Union ministers S Jaipal Reddy, Sushilkumar Shinde and Sachin Pilot failed before KCR’s political strategy. With his party’s resounding victory in the Warangal bypoll, KCR emerged as an ‘invincible leader’. Now, he is all set to implement some of his ‘controversial’ decisions with renewed vigour.
“The opposition parties opposed my decision to shift the Secretariat to another place. They even said a firm no to my plan to clean Hussainsagar Lake and redesign the irrigation projects. This victory proves that I have got people’s support for all my plans,” KCR said indicating that he would now reconsider his controversial decisions, which were resisted by the Opposition tooth and nail earlier.
With the Warangal victory, the party is getting ready to take on the Centre over issues relating to the state. “We have waited enough. Forget about responding to our requests on various issues, the Centre is doing injustice to our state on various issues be it is bifurcation of High Court, sanctioning national status to Pranahitha-Chevella project or several others,” said KCR’s daughter and TRS MP from Nizamabad, K Kavitha.
“We will raise our voice in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament to exert pressure on the Centre and extract our pound of flesh,” she added.
The TRS MPs, at a meeting with KCR, were also asked to take on the Centre on its failure to implement the assurances made to Telangana under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Post Warangal ByPoll, Naidu Pulls up Socks
Following the TDP-BJP combine’s humiliating drubbing in the bypoll, TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has decided to reconsider his decision to keep himself away from Hyderabad for a longer period. In view of the ensuing polls to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Naidu is seriously thinking of preventing the ‘repeat of Warangal result’ even in GHMC polls, where Seemandhra voters will decide the fortunes of political parties. If TDP loses GHMC polls too, it would be end of the road for the yellow party in Telangana. Naidu had decided to spend two days a week in Hyderabad to revive the sagging fortunes of his party in the new state, wherein it has already been relegated to a wallflower role post-bifurcation.