Chandrashekar Rao prepares for the assembly elections, possibly with a successor in mind and with an eye on Delhi.
THE BJP AND the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen represent opposite political ideologies. In Telangana, however, they are held together by a common factor—the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
On September 6, the state cabinet dissolved the first Telangana assembly and decided to go for early elections. The state was to go to the polls along with the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
At the press meet held immediately after meeting Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao called AIMIM “a friendly party”, underlining a special bond and hinting at a friendly contest in the elections. At the same meet, he released a list of candidates for 105 of the 119 assembly constituencies. Among the remaining 14 are four constituencies held by BJP legislators, including Telangana BJP president K. Laxman. Rao, however, said there would be no alliance with the BJP, and then he attacked the Congress. When reporters asked him why Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly granted him audience in Delhi, Rao said they just shared a “constitutional relation”.
Several leaders have been down the road Rao is currently on. Actor and Telugu Desam Party founder N.T. Rama Rao went for early elections in 1989, and lost. So did the Congress government led by K. Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy in 1983. Similarly, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu went for early polls in 2004, after he survived an assassination attempt by Maoists. He, too, lost badly. Given the history, why would Rao take the risk?
“Political fragility in the state is increasing and I want to curb it,” he said, blaming opposition parties for stalling developmental work. So, he said he “sacrificed his remaining term” for a fresh mandate.
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