Opinion

Telangana Elections 2023: Why did Telangana reject KCR’s BRS?

7 months ago
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KCR Rejected

KCR, a man who realized the decades-old dream of a separate Telangana state, never expected a significant setback from his people. The stalwart leader, with a 40-year political career, was suddenly and shockingly thrust into a dilemma by the mandate of the Telangana people in the latest assembly elections. Many analysts and the Telangana public assert that it was a battle of KCR versus KCR, with the people defeating KCR rather than securing a victory for Congress. Despite KCR’s party, BRS, contributing to development and providing welfare to the public, the primary reason for his defeat appears to be ‘arrogance.’ KCR took Telangana for granted, adopting an inaccessible and unresponsive attitude to key issues such as the TSPSC Paper Leakage, which significantly damaged his party BRS in the elections. More than a positive perception of Congress, it was the negativity surrounding BRS that compelled the public to cast their votes for a change in government. Let’s delve into the key reasons behind the downfall of BRS in Telangana.

KCR’s downfall started in 2019

KCR secured a resounding victory with 88 out of 119 seats in the 2018 assembly elections. There has been a noticeable shift in KCR’s approach from the BRS 1.0 government to the BRS 2.0 government. Despite the overwhelming majority, he postponed the cabinet expansion for over two months, reflecting a dictatorial tendency and a departure from democratic principles. Furthermore, even after winning a second term, he refrained from visiting the secretariat.

This attitude proved detrimental in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when the Telangana public expressed dissatisfaction. Despite the party’s slogan ‘Kaaru, saaru, Padaharu,’ TRS managed to secure only 9 Lok Sabha seats. Notably, KCR’s daughter, Kavitha, faced defeat at the hands of BJP candidate Dharmapuri Arvind.

In the subsequent 2020 GHMC elections, BRS was limited to only 51 seats, with BJP securing 48 seats. This marked a significant decline from the 2016 GHMC elections, where BRS lost 39 seats in 2020. The electoral outcomes underscored a notable shift in public sentiment and posed a challenge for the TRS party.

Also Read: Congress Loses Big Time To BJP In The Semi-Finals For The 2024 General Elections

Unemployment and Youth Unrest

This is one of the main reasons behind BRS’s defeat. Even though BRS claims they provided 1.60 lakhs jobs and another 70,000 jobs were in the pipeline, the majority of people, especially the youth, did not believe this. The TSPSC Paper leakage and Pravalika’s suicide just months before the elections damaged the BRS government significantly. In the last moments of the campaign, KTR arranged a meeting with unemployed youth at T-Hub and assured them of revamping TSPSC, issuing a job calendar, and promised to visit Ashok Nagar a day after the election results on December 4th. The very next day, Rahul Gandhi went and met students preparing for groups at Ashok Nagar.

During this 10-year period, a huge gap developed between the youth and the BRS government. Job notifications were delayed, and even though the group-1 notification was issued, it was canceled once due to paper leakage. The second time, the High Court ordered the cancellation and a re-conduct of the exam because biometric details were not taken in the test. Beyond job notifications, the way BRS handled job aspirants and the unemployed hurt them a lot. In these 10 years, KCR never visited a university except when Pranab Mukherjee visited Osmania University for the 100 years celebration. Even then, KCR did not speak a single word and left without giving any speech.

During the Telangana Movement, TRSV, the student wing of TRS, fought for students’ rights and worked as a connection between youth and the party. However, after coming into power, they completely ignored the student wing. There was no bridge to connect students and youth to the parties. Gradually, unrest developed among the students and youth, leading them not only to decide not to vote for BRS but also to influence their families not to vote for BRS. In the total of 3.25 crores of Telangana voters, 1.57 crores voters are in the 20-39 age group. The opposition to the government among this group had a huge impact on BRS.

Arrogance and inaccessibility

In 2014, when KCR was first elected as CM, he frequently interacted with the public and maintained good relationships with them. However, after winning in 2018, he significantly restricted his public appearances, confining himself to Pragati Bhavan and the Gajwel farmhouse. He even refrained from granting appointments to MLAs and ministers. KTR defended this behaviour in an interview, stating that the CM was focused on providing welfare and development for the people, questioning the necessity for direct meetings. This attitude was perceived by the public as arrogance. There were several occasions when the CM was completely absent for months, creating the impression that he did not listen to anybody and made his own decisions in policymaking and other matters.

Repeating Same Candidates

Even though KCR was aware of the opposition against around 40 MLAs in his party, he chose to field them again this time. KTR himself mentioned in interviews that, despite party leaders suggesting changes in the candidates, KCR didn’t heed their advice. In a party meeting, KCR acknowledged that he had learned some MLAs were taking Rs. 3 lakhs out of Rs. 10 lakhs allocated under the Dalit Bandhu scheme for beneficiaries. Lately, realising the opposition against candidates in the election campaigns, he urged the public to consider the party’s stance and leadership behind the candidates. However, the public did not heed his words, as evident by the election results. It’s noteworthy that where BRS has changed the candidates, out of 18, they have won 12 seats.

Dalit Bandhu, BC Bandhu Schemes misfired

Schemes like Dalit Bandhu, BC Bandhu, and Double Bedroom Housing faced significant backlash. When the Dalit Bandhu scheme was introduced, offering Rs. 10 lakh in financial assistance to Dalit families, it led to discontent among BCs. Later, KCR introduced BC Bandhu, providing Rs. 1 lakh in financial assistance to artisans in BCs. Both of these schemes, along with the Double Bedroom Housing scheme, sparked opposition against the government among those who did not receive the benefits. Despite the government’s assertion that these were continuous schemes implemented in a phased manner, the public developed a strong opposition against the government.

Kaleshwaram Narrative

The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation project was touted as one of the flagship projects of the BRS government, proudly claiming it as the world’s largest lift irrigation completed in a short period. However, numerous allegations of corruption surround the project. During the Congress party’s rule in 2009, the project was initially planned at Tummidihetti as the Pranahitha-Chevella project. But the KCR government decided to relocate it to Kaleshwaram, citing better water availability throughout the year compared to Tummidihetti.

During the Congress period, the estimated cost of the project was around Rs. 40,000 crore. However, after the KCR government redesigned the project, the cost escalated to Rs. 1 lakh crore. The Congress portrayed a narrative in the public eye, depicting the Kaleshwaram project as an ATM for KCR’s family. Adding to this, a pillar of the Medigadda barrage, a component of Kaleshwaram, recently sank ahead of elections. Congress capitalized on this incident during the election, targeting KCR and alleging quality issues in the project. The corruption narrative surrounding Kaleshwaram from the Congress reached the public, fostering opposition against the government.

Voter fatigue

The KCR government undertook several developmental initiatives, including major irrigation projects such as Kaleshwaram and Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation. Additionally, they established IT hubs in B-towns, ensured tap water supply to every household through Mission Bhagiratha, and rejuvenated lakes and ponds under Mission Kakatiya, and provided 24 hours free electricity to farmers. The government also set up 100-bed hospitals in constituencies, mother and child care health centers in districts, and basthi hospitals in Hyderabad. Integrated markets were established in municipalities, graveyards in all towns and villages, and 34 new medical colleges were inaugurated. The Gurukul school count increased from 298 to 1005, new flyovers were constructed in Hyderabad, and notable projects like T-Hub, We-Hub, the new secretariat, police command control center, and Yadadri temple were implemented.

Furthermore, the government introduced welfare schemes such as Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, Kalyana Lakshmi, Asara Pensions, Chenetha Mithra, Dalit Bandhu, BC Bandhu, and Gruha Laxmi. Despite these accomplishments, voter sentiment shifted, with a desire for change after BRS’s decade-long rule. Even though there is not much opposition against the government, voter fatigue made them look towards another party. Many people wanted change without necessarily aligning with any specific reason. This sentiment could potentially impacted BRS. If the BJP were in the main fight in place of Congress, it could have had a chance at coming to power due to the prevailing mood for change.

It would be interesting to see, how KCR works towards his national ambitions in the upcoming general elections!

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