Soliloquy

Now that about ten days have passed since the declaration of the election results in Telangana, and the initial trepidation gone by, I feel that the time has come for me to meditate upon it. 

The door shown to the BRS by the people came as a huge shocker, for in my untrained eye, there could be no Telangana without the pink party. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, whom I look up to, acted with dignity in the face of defeat, leaving Pragathi Bhavan on Sunday evening after sending his resignation to the governor. 

The Indian National Congress, who were routed in the 2018 polls, emerged strongly to form the government after having won 64 seats this time around. Revanth Reddy was sworn in as Chief Minister on Thursday.

THE CONGRESS BANKED ON THE PLANKS OF CORRUPTION

The Congress banked on the planks of corruption, which went against the BRS on most of the seats where incumbent MLAs were fielded. KCR’s unwillingness to replace incumbent MLAs against whom corruption charges were continually raised ultimately led to the party’s downfall. 

The TSPSC paper leaks as well as the Kothapet land scams hit the BRS hard, and KCR took very few pre-emptive measures until it was too late. 

The opposition alleged that huge amounts of money had been misappropriated by the BRS during the construction of the Kaleshwaram irrigation project, but K Taraka Rama Rao (KTR) and T Harish Rao spoke well and spoke enough to avoid such detractors. 

Ultimately, the wrath of the people who had been subdued with welfare schemes in contrast to employment opportunities hit the party hard and was instrumental in them losing most of their seats in eastern and southern Telangana. 

It continued its stronghold in western Telangana and swept the city of Hyderabad as well. The north of the state was dominated by the BJP, which won eight seats in total- a massive upsurge from the one seat it won in 2018.

CHALLENGES GALORE FOR THE CONGRESS

The Congress, whom the people of Telangana had long reviled for diverting funds due to the region for Seemandhra districts pre-bifurcation, has been brought to power on the sole planks of teaching KCR and his family a lesson. 

It would not be unfair to suggest that most voters who shifted their allegiance have been anti-BRS rather than pro-INC. A lot rests on Revanth Reddy’s plate as the six guarantees the party made in its manifesto would leave the exchequer poorer by at least INR 60,000 crore. 

The funding for this will be tough to procure given that his term comes in the middle of the borrowing calendar, and the deficit that the state had gone to under the BRS regime will have to be negated first. 

It is safe to say that the Centre- manned by the BJP- will not be overly enthusiastic in giving aid in times of need. The INC, and Revanth Reddy, are on their own, with very little to fall back upon. Reddy’s next big challenge comes in passing bills through the upper house. 

The INC have just two MLCs in the Legislative Council while the BRS have an upper hand with 27. The INC may be able to increase their numbers to a maximum of five when the terms of some of the incumbent MLCs come to an end in 2025. 

This was a challenge faced by former CM KCR when he first came to power in 2014, but the BRS’ strategy of engineering defections in other parties came to his aid. Reddy will struggle to get key bills passed in the Upper House if the number of INC MLCs remains at just the two that they are now.

FRAGILE-LOOKING CONGRESS DUE TO INFIGHTING

What remains to be seen is how much stability this fragile-looking INC government gives to Telangana. The magical number has always been that of 60 in the 119-seat assembly, and the INC have just four more than that. 

Add to that the constant infighting in the Grand Old Party regarding the allotment of plush portfolios, and one senses an atmosphere of volatility. Senior party leaders Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu and Uttam Kumar Reddy will be bitter about being overlooked for the top job for Reddy, who, until 2006, had been in the TRS (the previous name of BRS) and joined the INC only in 2017. 

He was also an integral part of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), winning two legislative elections from Kodangal on their ticket. As long as this infighting does not affect day-to-day governance, the people of Telangana, known to be of placid and docile bearing, will not mind.

THE BRS HAVE NOT LOST EVERYTHING

The BRS, relegated to the opposition, have not lost their seats in Hyderabad, and this is saying something. My legislator, KP Vivekanand, created history by winning the Qutubullapur seat with a margin of 85,576 votes. 

This proves that the BRS could not placate rural Telangana as much as they did Hyderabad, and their strategies ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as well as the 2028 assembly elections will be interesting to see. 

One can expect either KTR or Harish Rao to be at the forefront of leading the challenge from the opposition benches, and for KCR to enjoy a status of semi-retirement. If the INC manage to sustain their government for the five allotted years, it will be a good exercise to analyse how they have uplifted the lives of the millions who voted for them.

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