Blitzkrieg pays off, KCR hogs limelight after Etala debacle

Hyderabad: In what originally began as a tussle between Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and BJP MLA-elect Etala Rajendar, the political rivalry between two tall leaders turned into a full-fledged war between the Chief Minister and BJP Telangana unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar. However, the strategy adopted by Chandrashekar Rao with back-to-back press conferences in the last two days paid off, feel the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) rank and file.

For the last five months since Rajendar's ouster from the Cabinet in May, the political narrative in the state was a war between Rao and Rajendar. After Rajendar's stunning victory in a fiercely fought electoral battle with the TRS in Huzurabad Assembly bypoll on November 2, this narrative gained momentum which Rao could check successfully within four days of Rajendar's victory, they opine.

The TRS is upbeat that their boss could successfully sideline and divert people's attention from Rajendar's victory by raking up paddy procurement, fuel price rise and other issues by declaring an all out war on the BJP at the Centre as well as in Telangana.

Rao's strategy to hold back-to-back press conference to attack the BJP on the issue of non-procurement of parboiled rice from Telangana in rabi season and rising fuel prices to higher cess imposed by the BJP-led government at the Centre came as a surprise to not just political circles but also to the media.

This is because Rao hardly met media personnel or held press conferences in his capacity as the Chief Minister for over seven years except during the Covid first wave when he held six press conferences at Pragathi Bhavan between March-June 2021.

But Rao, all of a sudden, held two consecutive press conferences at Pragathi Bhavan on Sunday and Monday and even declared that this will be a daily affair henceforth. But the Election Commission’s (EC) MLC elections notification and code of conduct on Tuesday forced him to halt press conferences. But the TRS sources said Rao wanted to continue press conferences after the MLC polls in December.

Party sources say the Chief Minister’s press conferences helped him overshadow Rajendar who was hogging limelight till then. Rao wanted to minimise the impact of Rajendar’s victory in bypoll by garnering media attention with his all-out war on the BJP.

Following the Chief Minister’s footsteps, ministers K. T. Rama Rao, S. Niranjan Reddy and Gangula Kamalakar also stepped up tirade against the BJP over the paddy procurement issue on Tuesday.

Rama Rao lashed out at BJP leaders saying they fled unable to answer the questions raised by the Chief Minister on paddy procurement and rising fuel prices. He warned that the TRS would not spare BJP leaders until they gave clarity on the issues raised by the Chief Minister and asked party leaders and cadre to chase the BJP leaders till they responded to their demands on paddy procurement and cut cess on fuel.