Kalvankuntla Chandrashekar Rao, the Chief Minister of Telangana, more popularly known as KCR, is deeply religious, to the extent that he wears different talismans for different occasions. KCR’s efforts to form a third front to oppose Modi’s BJP and a dynastic Congress party were futile, with the results of the 2019 Lok Sabha belying any national political status. KCR has now renewed his efforts to form a third front, and the result is the Khammam conclave held yesterday in his state.
KCR’s party, rechristened Bharat Rashtra Samithi from the earlier Telangana Rashtra Samity, itself can explain his vision of catapulting into the national political arena, without confining it to Telangana. He could rope in five parties, his BRS, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, Pinayari Vijayan, representing the Communist Marxists, and D. Raja, representing the CPI. This could be the first attempt in recent times at forming a non-BJP and non-Congress front.
Notable absentees from KCR’s initiative are Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Nitish Kumar and his allies, the Yadav clan, the Thackerays, and the Abdullahs, among others. Any alliance that is opposed to the BJP, sans a few majors from this list, will render the bloc weak and self-defeating. Odisha’s Navin Pattanaik could be one such leader, whose ambition for good governance is limited to his state and who could be an ally for anyone who would win the elections and rule the nation.
All the leaders who had assembled in Khammam, representing Kerala, Punjab, and Delhi (U.T. ), must keep their minority vote bank in good humor. Samajwadi was recently routed in the U.P. Assembly elections. Pinayari is facing the wrath of PFI, over raids, seizures, and sealing of their assets. These leaders must be seen attacking the BJP’s policies to ensure their survival. No minority leader, like Owaisi or Abdullah, has shown up at Khammam with KCR.
Elsewhere, the big players in the game, like an indisposed Sharad Pawar and an aspiring Mamata Banerjee, are keeping their cards close to their chest. It will suit the interest of Tejashwi Yadav, the Bihar Deputy CM, to edge Nitish Kumar away from Bihar and into the national scene, without which Yadav’s dreams of leading Bihar state will not materialize. Nitish is expected to dodge every kick, unless he is certain to be the opposition’s PM, which is unlikely.
The same whisperers seem to be preparing a “Didi for PM” post, for 2024, and the Bengal CM is perhaps taking the statements of non-players like Amartya Sen seriously. Appeasement politics and handouts in various forms and styles are only temporary solutions in times of job and opportunity shortages. Stable jobs and a sustainable lifestyle are just two of the demands that every citizen has that the government must try to meet.
Any government in 2024 will be like old wine in a new bottle until two issues are addressed: a) population, and b) defence costs. Can Khammam conclave elaborate on these?
For the time being, the Khammam meeting can only be described as a public relations exercise for KCR.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
