Cong stakes claim to statehood movement as TRS changes name

Hyderabad:

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi’s rechristening to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has not just cost it an emotive political campaign but also the Congress staking claim to the Telangana statehood movement by the Congress that was once central to the BRS’ political persuasion, political experts said.

With Rahul Gandhi raising the issue of the grant of statehood right on the very first day of the ‘Vijayabheri Campaign’ last week, the Congress was clearly seen claiming ownership of the political decision to deliver India’s youngest state 10 years ago in 2014.

“It is an undeniable fact that it was Congress that kept up its promise to carve out a new state despite knowing that this decision could keep us out of power. Our MPs fought for it in the Parliament. This election, we are just reminding the people that it was us who made their dream a reality,” said Bandaru Srikanth, state Congress spokesperson.

Even before the election dates were announced, it was Sonia Gandhi who first led the Telangana state war cry making it a campaign issue as she addressed a public rally in September urging people of the state to recollect her party’s fulfilled commitment to creating the state.

In December 2022, 20 years after its inception, when the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) requested the Election Commission for a name change to BRS, it didn’t anticipate a political crisis. It is only during this season’s campaign primer that the BRS found itself upstaged by the Congress which came with the six guarantees and the statehood issue in tow.

“While there are several reasons why the K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) chose to enforce a name change, it never could prophesy the Congress’s sudden rise and so has been unprepared to hand the ‘Telangana Cause’ baton to its bete noir,” said Prof E Venkateswarlu, who teaches at the Hyderabad Central University. The BRS fought the 2014 and 2018 elections largely fanning the statehood issue, taking public memory back to 1969 when more than 300 people lost their lives during the strife-ridden agitation.

Journalist and political analyst Dr Pentapati Pulla Rao suggested that there’s more that has contributed to the Congress seemingly gaining an upper hand in the campaign war.

“There’s a strong anti-incumbency. KCR’s family is over-exposed; but for a few rallies here and there, the BJP is completely missing in action. So, in a way, over action and under action have created the perfect platform for the Congress,” Dr Rao said.

With more than four of KCR’s family members occupying all the key posts, the BRS has failed to create a smear campaign against dynastic rule, making it a handicap against the Congress.

The sharp criticism from the BJP about KCR wanting his son KT Rama Rao to be the next chief minister could also impact at least 1-2% of votes getting transferred to the Congress, Prof Venkateswarlu said.

Once a strong vote base of the BRS, the minorities could shift towards the Congress, like it did in Karnataka polls in May this year.

“The Congress’s existence has always been the causal factor of the minorities’ political unity. In its absence in the last ten years, the minorities chose the BRS. It was more like the adoptive parent. But now that the Congress is back in the contest, the outnumbered will go back to the biological parent.” Dr Rao said.

Many see the Congress’ acquisition of the ‘Class Character’- where it is seen as a supporter of backward classes and dalits- as an active contributor to the party gaining popularity. “Rahul Gandhi’s X-ray theory has been effectively caught by the people. Its guarantees make it seem like a champion of the rural poor, the low-income groups, and the women. This loss of its Centrist character to look more Communist-like is a campaign that has struck a chord,” Dr Venkateswarlu said, analysing the bus yatra campaign by the Gandhis.