India Talks

I’m going to ask you now to imagine some weird things. Just go along with it and then later, you tell me how shockingly real they are. Pretend a man is riding on a fully-grown male tiger. He has been on the tiger since it was a cub, and now it’s getting impatient to feed and is in hunt of prey. Now suppose the man wants to get off all of a sudden because he decides “I don’t like tigers anymore.” How would he get off? Would he make the tiger stop and then get down as it watches or would he get off as it moves and head the opposite way?

Now take the case of K. Chandrasekhara Rao, a.k.a. KCR, the president of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Andhra Pradesh regional party fighting for a separate Telangana state. In the 2009 elections, the TRS has formed an alliance with the Telugu Desam and Communist Party of India with a seat-sharing scheme. According to their agreement, certain seats will be given to certain parties based on their strengths and weaknesses.

The TRS was originally given seats in the districts of Adilabad, Medak, Karimnagar, etc. These are all areas where the pro-Telangana sentiment is at feverish levels. However, KCR fought and won rights for the party to contest from Assembly seats like Maheswaram, Qutubullahpur, Kukatpally, Nampally, Jubilee Hills, and for his own campaign to be from Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seat. On top of that, he has fielded all weaklings from those seats, all TDP strongholds. All these are places where the desire for a separate Telangana is not strong. In fact, in the Assembly seats are all in the Greater Hyderabad area where most of the people are from Coastal Andhra or Rayalseema. He has a bat’s chance in hell of winning from there, but why would he adamantly demand those very seats for his party? Still confused?

Pretend that KCR is the man on the tiger, which represents Telangana. Since 2001, KCR has canvassed for the separate Telangana state. But what if a few months ago, KCR decided he doesn’t want Telangana anymore? What if he decided he is sick of fighting and protesting and rasta rokos? Would KCR hold a press conference and say “Okay guys, Telangana plan is off on account of I don’t want it anymore,” to lakhs of Telangana supporters? He’d be killed, or worse. Hence, he’s trying to make a clean and “honest” getaway by losing the election on purpose.

KCR is a cunning wolf in sheep’s clothing. Having decided he no longer wants Telangana, he’s probably asked for those seats and fielded lightweights for the very purpose of losing. He can win ten or twelve seats from hardcore Telangana areas, secure his ministerial post, and protect his allies for another couple of years. Well before the next elections, he can safely announce that ten years of struggle has been too much and he is going to retire, thus absolving himself of responsibility altogether.

KCR, the joker, the wildcat, the rebel, the inconsistent politician: this is the face of a man who is betraying the people who have stood by him for the past eight years and suffered through long hours of work and hundreds of protest rallies. This clever ruse is nothing more than an elaborate scheme to give up the Telangana cause. KCR’s only consistency is his inconsistence. Telangana voters and TRS workers need to open their eyes, but nowhere near as much as Chandrababu Naidu does. The TDP chief has been serenaded by this dream act, and by the time he smelt the fishy odour it was too late. In 15 seats allotted to the TRS under the Mahakutami seat sharing agreement, the TDP has fielded their own candidates as backup in case the TRS is trying to lose. However, there are 45 seats where the TRS is fielding weak candidates against Congress and Praja Rajyam heavyweights. Therefore, the TDP will take a major blow in these regions.

Mr. Chandrasekhara Rao is the man on the tiger. He may have gotten down and left for now, but it’s only a matter of time before the tiger realises that the guy who was on his back is now gone. KCR must not forget that tigers have a powerful sense of smell and can run much faster than humans.