From T’gana to Delhi: KCR set to pole vault

Vaulting political ambitions can take people places-maybe from the Telangana state capital, Hyderabad to Lutyens Delhi, maybe even further… who knows? So when the irrepressible Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao announced that he was forming a national party, no one had an iota of doubt about his determination to prove himself. And why not when eight years ago, the CM of another state, Gujarat, was pushed to the national stage, soon becoming prime minister and now a pan-Indian leader wielding enormous power?

There are other compulsions too which have forced the indomitable leader who secured Telangana statehood, to fire volley after volley at PM Modi after having supported him a few years ago. In Telangana politics, the Congress, once a formidable power, is now a mere shadow of its original self with the BJP taking over the opposition space and spreading its footprint. One way to keep the saffronists at bay is to pose a national challenge to them and KCR, who speaks both Hindi and English fluently, has overcome one big barrier many other south leaders face.

 Nor has he made any secret of his national ambitions if Mamata Banerjee, another powerful regional player, can dream of forming a national opposition front by roping in parties like the NCP, DMK and SP, who not him?

That brings up the big question of the kind of role the Telangana CM can play in firming up the unity of opposition forces ahead of the 2024 parliament polls. Telangana sends a modest 17 MPs to the Lok Sabha. There are Telugu speaking people settled in many states across the country particularly in the Southern states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and also in Maharashtra and Odisha besides of course AP itself, who would not mind supporting KCR’s ambitious plans. The huge Telugu diaspora across the globe would be more than happy to see their leader rubbing shoulders with the giants of national politics instead of confining himself to Hyderabad.

 After all they have been waiting and waiting for their mascot in Delhi after PV Narasimha Rao’s stellar innings in South Block a few decades ago, which saw a wave of economic reforms change the face of the country. So one can expect KCR, like Deve Gowda and Mamata Banerjee, to be seen more at political rallies across the country, building up support for an all-inclusive national coalition against the Modi-Shah combine even while staving off the challenge in his own terrain.

His fellow travellers in the opposition may not mind KCR joining them as long as it does not add to the pulls and pressures in the anti-BJP camp. There has been enough brainstorming already about a national face who can stand up to the BJP and not many choices have emerged except of course Rahul Gandhi, who however has been the subject of scepticism over his ability to take on the PM on an equal footing.

A collective leadership of regional parties with national aspirations, and the few national parties we have left, seems to be the credible alternative emerging slowly to the BJP-led NDA. Leaders like KCR can do their best to add to the national tempo against the BJP with their oratory and leave the question of who will lead the coalition to the future. A national coalition is the best bet the opposition parties now have to crack the BJP’s citadel and they surely have a chance if they can keep their squabbles and personal egos aside in the wider interest of the nation.