Hyderabad: Accusing the TRS government led by K. Chandrasekhar Rao of being corrupt, inefficient, feudal and dynastic in its outlook, national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party P. Muralidhar Rao said, “TRS shares its political DNA with the Congress. They are both dynasties and family-dominated enterprises. The only real alternative to the TRS is the BJP, in ideological terms, in governance and will eventually be the only party that can and will take the young state of Telangana state to great heights.”
Dismissing all charges made by the Congress that the BJP and the TRS were covert allies waiting for the Lok Sabha elections to make their alliance public, Mr Rao, speaking exclusively to Deccan Chronicle, said, “The only party that has never tied-up with the TRS is the BJP. They have tied-up with the Congress, the TD, the Left parties and the MIM at various times. It is ridiculous and bereft of any credibility that the Congress, an incubating partner of the TRS, should say we are with them.”
When quizzed about the surveys that project that the Congress was ahead in Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh, winning Mizoram and was inching closer to overtaking the TRS, the life-long Swayamsevak of the RSS, who has held important roles in ABVP and Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, said, “all surveys under-project the BJP. We have our own internal assessments and we will win all five states. There is a wave favouring us because of our development activities, ranging from infrastructure, roads, railways, power, LED lights, and welfare programmes from Ujwala to cash transfers, battle against corruption and focus on nation building”.
P. Muralidhar Rao, the national general secretary of the BJP since 2013, has been a swayamsevak and pracharak of the RSS since an early age, and served as the organising secretary of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch in the early 90s.
Currently serving as national general secretary, he is focused on ensuring his party performs exceedingly well in the five states going to the polls, in the run-up the 2019 general elections. Speaking exclusively to Deccan Chronicle on a posse of issues, he reveals the deep thinking of this party for the state, and the country.
Q Why does your party, which has notched up such a spectacular rise in so many states across the north, central and north-east, failed to become relevant in the south of India..., especially in the Telugu states?
Media always says we are irrelevant till we win. Then they say we have won because we have resorted to communal politics. We were written off by being called irrelevant before — we were called an urban party before we broke the myth by becoming strong in villages. We were called irrelevant beyond upper castes till we broke the myth and today have more Dalit, tribal and OBCs representatives than any other party. We were called a north Indian party before we broke the myth by winning in Jammu and Kashmir, the North East, and Goa.
We are now the alternative force in Bengal and Odisha. We formed our first government in south India in Karnataka and are now the number one party there. We are growing rapidly in Kerala — just wait for the results the next time elections are held there. We are stronger and growing in Tamil Nadu and AP wh-ere people are tired of the corruption of the local parties. In Telangana, we are the only and real alternative to the TRS.
Q Elections in TS are due in a few weeks. TRS says you don’t even have options for candidates in all seats?
Given that it was a new state, and a first-time-ever government, people were willing to overlook its mistakes and shortcomings. The bond is now broken, the people of Telangana are no longer enamoured by the TRS. We are the only real alternative to them. People are vexed with the politics of KCR and his family, it is exactly like Congress. Politically, ideologically and in governance, TRS is practicing Congress type of politics — dynasty rule, corrupt, high-handed, arrogant and misuse of power — there is no difference between the two. We are the only real alternative and the BJP will come to power in Telangana.
Q But the surveys show…?
The surveys always love to under-project the BJP. Look at the numbers they gave us in the Lok Sabha, in UP, in every state we won from Goa to the most recent elections in Karnataka. We are a survey defying party.
Q So how does the BJP rate its chan-ces in the five states going to polls shortly?
We will retain all our three states — Rajasthan, MP and Chattisgarh; and win Mizoram and Telangana.
Q The Congress says that the TRS is a not-so-secret ally of the BJP. So in a way, you have surrendered TS to TRS in exchange for their promise to join the NDA after the Lok Sabha polls? And in that sense, MIM is your partner too?
The Congress, the TD, the MIM and the TRS have all been allies at some point. The BJP is the only party which has not partnered with the TRS. It is ridiculous that an ideologically-bankrupt party like Congress is making this allegation.
Q Has the Modi government delivered on economy, jobs and such secular aspirations as promised by ‘acche din’? And why does the perception never change that you are intolerant?
The media tends to take an odd stray incident and blow it out of proportion and create screaming headlines. Because development does not make a good headline. Ignore motivated narratives and focus on facts. Farmer subsidy, direct cash benefit, roads, better infra, more jobs, funding to entrepreneurs — every single action of Modi government has been to benefit every single Indian. All 125 crore Indians are equal and no one is a secondary citizens.
