CM KCR’s Maharashtra trip triggers change in national political narrative

Almost every one of his major political rivals in an attempt to hide that they were rattled by the trip, have begun training their guns in multiple ways on the man, his party and his State

Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi President and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s 600-vehicle convoy for his trip to Maharashtra might have been criticised by many, but the trip itself is now impacting the entire political narrative in the country.

Almost every one of his major political rivals, right from the Bharatiya Janata Party to the Congress and the Shiva Sena, in an attempt to hide that they were rattled by the trip, have begun training their guns in multiple ways on the man, his party and his State.

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Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has not hitherto uttered a word about Rao or the BRS outside Telangana, went to the extent of taking Chandrashekhar Rao’s name along with that of the Gandhi family and others, to accuse them of dynasty politics while speaking at a political meeting in Bhopal.

The Congress, even while struggling to douse the fire of factionalism within the party, tried to accuse the BRS of being hand in glove with the BJP. Telangana Congress incharge Manik Rao Thakare said in Delhi that the BRS was working with a sole intention of damaging the Congress party’s prospects in several States and went to the extent of accusing the Chief Minister of not fulfilling his promises made to the people.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) responded to the BRS chief’s visit to his State saying that the Telangana Chief Minister should focus on his own State.

Interestingly, Shinde issued directions to the district administration in Solapur to ensure there were no posters of political parties or politicians in Pandharpur, while the police denied the BRS permission to shower flower petals from helicopters on the lakhs of pilgrims reaching Pandharpur.

Shiv Sena (UBT faction) MP Sanjay Raut called the BRS a B-team of the BJP and accused it of trying to weaken the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress.

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Hanumant Pawar accused Chandrashekhar Rao of deceiving the people, while Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis had on Monday responded to the Pandharpur visit, saying there should be no politics and that ‘KCR’ was welcome but only as a devotee.

Not ‘A’ team or ‘B’ team, but team of farmers, says KCR

Unfazed by the sudden attack from all sides and from across the country, Chandrashekhar Rao hit back at political detractors questioning his foray into Maharashtra politics and said he was compelled to enter Maharashtra due to their combined failure to address the basic needs of the people, especially farmers.

Stating that BRS was not limited to Telangana or Maharashtra, but a national party working with a mission to bring about change in India, he also made it clear that his party was not the ‘A team or ‘B’ team of any other party, but a team of farmers and the poor, deprived sections.

“Why is there so much of furore over a party that is new to Maharashtra, especially one that is just barely a few months old in national politics? What are they afraid of? Why are they jittery?” he asked.

“The Congress says we are the ‘B’ team of the BJP. The BJP says we are the ‘A’ team of the Congress. Where is this team from? We are not anyone’s team. If at all we are a team, we are a team of farmers, backward classes, scheduled castes, tribes and minorities, as well as all the weaker sections of this country,” he said, pointing out that the BRS was the first, and only party, that gave a call for ‘Ab ki Bar Kisan Sarkar’ in the country.

Speaking at a well-attended public meeting at Sarkoli during the induction of senior NCP leader and former MP Bhagiratha Bhalke into the BRS, the Chief Minister also responded to the allegations of his trip being a ‘political pilgrimage’, stating that he had not done or uttered anything political in Pandharpur, and was there strictly for darshan.

“I have not done or said politics there. That is a sacred place. But this is a public meeting, and I will talk politics here,” he said, going on to tear into the repeated failures of successive governments in Maharashtra and also into political rivals, who he said, had suddenly become jittery when he stepped into Maharashtra.