'KCR IS NEVER WORRIED. WE WILL WIN A THIRD TERM'

His sprawling farm on the outskirts of Hyderabad is something of a sanctum sanctorum for Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR). As he sat down for a 100-minute candid interaction with Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa and Senior Deputy Editor Amarnath K. Menon, the 69-year-old KCR exuded a quiet confidence about winning a third straight term. Edited excerpts:

- Raj Chengappa & Amarnath K. Menon.

Q. Telangana is holding its third election since it was formed in 2014. Your party won in 2014 as well as in 2018. Are you confident of a hat-trick? 

Yes. My assessment is that my party’s tally will be higher than in 2018. We will go up from 88 to between 95 and 100 of the total 119 seats in the assembly.

Q. Why do you say so?

Let’s look at the benchmarks. The No. 1 benchmark for any state is per capita income. Telangana’s current capita income is Rs 3.12 lakh. Barring small states like Goa, we are No. 1. Telangana was 18th when it was formed in 2014, our per capita income around Rs 1 lakh. Now, it has trebled.

Q. What are the other benchmarks?

The second is the per capita power utilisation. It was only 1,100-odd units in 2014. Now, it is close to 2,200 units, which is double. Utilising energy means progress. The third is reduction of unemployment. When the state was formed, it was over 14-15 per cent; now, it is below 5 per cent. These are government of India figures. Migration was a problem when the state was formed. Now, I can proudly say the situation has reversed. Labour is coming to work in Telangana from over a dozen states, with numbers estimated at over 2.5 million. Our GSDP has grown by nearly three times since the state was formed.

Q. Opinion polls hint at serious anti-incumbency.

Let me be straight—there is pro-incumbency in Telangana. Like when Mr Jyoti Basu and Mr Naveen Patnaik ruled and won many terms.

Q. Then why are you contesting from two seats? Are you worried?