The Telangana Chief Minister plans to change the profile and format of his political outfit Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
New Delhi: In what will have far-reaching political implications, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is understandably planning to throw his hat in the ring of national political arena. He will try to set his foot and consolidate his position in national politics. However, he would neither launch any third front nor would he cobble up any alliance kind of formation. He will try to groom and grow his own party Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) at the national level, with the sole aim to challenge the BJP in the 2024 parliamentary electoral battle.
TRS chief Chandrashekar Rao may clear the picture in the coming days on the entire plan about his party’s structure and format at the national level. Ahead of all this, Rao is reaching out to some non-Congress and non-BJP leaders in what is being viewed as his efforts to ensure that the vote-bank of the opposition remains intact. The Telangana CM is keeping his own counsel on all the plans that he will be unfolding in days to come. But there are enough indications that he would catapult his party into the national sphere of politics, and once he does so, the CM would be going for an alliance with different players at state levels only.
Moreover, the TRS chief has a political plan handy to counter the communal issues as well. Developmental issues will form the very basis of his politics, for which Rao would be highlighting at the national level his decisions in the interest of farmers, youths and common people of his state. Obviously, these issues will be what Rao would be pursuing to make his presence felt nationally.
The TRS supremo’s increasing political strength can be gauged from the fact that he pulled off victories with a brute majority in two consecutive Assembly elections that have taken place so far since the formation of the youngest state Telangana.
There is no denying that the road to 2024 Lok Sabha elections for the BJP is quite smooth, with no political challenges staring at the saffron party. Congress as a political force is losing steam day by day owing to a series of electoral debacles, and due also to weak leadership at the central level. As a result, there is a perceptible vacuum in national politics. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did try to fill this vacuum at the time of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, but her plan came a cropper, due primarily to her party TMC being purely a regional outfit. Secondly, she does not have a good command over the Hindi language. Mamata Banerjee wanted all opposition parties to be under her flag, which was not an acceptable proposal. At the same time, NCP leader Sharad Pawar is not in a position to sever ties with the UPA at any point of time due to his old age-related issues. With all this in the background, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao looks to be comfortably placed compared to the other propositions. As regards the name of his party Telangana Rashtra Samithi that gives regional reflection, he is likely to change it so as to bring it in the national reckoning. Another positive thing is that his communication in Hindi is good, effective and appealing. Though Rao has not yet tried his luck in politics outside Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, his preparations are based on national ambition. So, Chandrashekar Rao may be the opposition’s face for the big battle of 2024. What goes in his favour is a decade long administrative experience that Rao has by virtue of being a Chief Minister for ten years now. If Rao manages to woo sentiments of the Hindi belt states of north India just like Southern region, he will be a natural choice for being projected as the face of the opposition bloc.
While meeting several leaders, Rao is trying to convince them of how he will be able to lead the political formation from the front. Rao has so far met Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu’s CM M.K. Stalin, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan. He also held meetings with former PM HD Deve Gowda, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav.
He is likely to meet Bihar CM Nitish Kumar soon. Chandrashekar Rao’s plan is to float his party in the states such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab and Karnataka. He will then strike alliances with the non-Congress and non-BJP parties to challenge the ruling party at the Centre—the BJP.
Needless to say, a third political force is needed in the Hindi speaking states like Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand where only bipolar politics exists. Now what remains to be seen is what role the opposition plays during the presidential elections to be held next month. As of now, Chandrashekar Rao is silently working on his big and ambitious mission in what will catapult him into national fame.