DC EDIT | Will KCR’s new BRS spell change?
The KCR template presumably would be based on the Prashant Kishor blueprint for the Congress
The supremo of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and state chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is a political wizard who, to do justice to the description of his state as the youngest in India and a start-up destination, should be described as a man who himself founded a unicorn.
Now, over two decades later, with the experience and wisdom of age, he has embarked on the most courageous adventure of his life — of entering national politics and starting a new political party, reportedly to be named the Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
The biggest mission of the BRS led by KCR would be to challenge the political domination of India by the Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In an age marked by the shameful capitulation of certain parties and their near-voluntary collapse, like the BSP led by Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh, KCR deserves the commendation of all believers in democracy for his intrepid, clear vision.
KCR is not new to setting out on the road less taken and undertaking daunting challenges, or being written off in the earliest stage of a new journey. There would be few eager journey-mates initially. Ironically, he espouses best the spirit of the Bengali song — “Ekla chalo re (Walk alone)”.
The KCR template presumably would be based on the Prashant Kishor blueprint for the Congress, where it would need to challenge the BJP in nearly 200 seats, where the current political fight would otherwise be directly between the two national parties.
Setting on it without the organisation or spread of the Congress, KCR has the limitation of having to stay away from the Grand Old Party in his quest to challenge the BJP, given the Telangana state elections in which both national parties are putting up a fight against him, but that could change post the Assembly polls next year.
Is KCR, who succeeded in getting India to accept his idea to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh and create Telangana, succeed yet again? Will history record him as King Arthur at the Round Table or a Don Quixote? Only time has the answer.
But those who dream of a brave new world tomorrow, and strive to make it happen, have the privilege of living in it today — and KCR is one such rare statesman.