KCR Suddenly Changes Stance?

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who had shown immense interest in a non-BJP front at the Centre, had failed to join the leaders of non-BJP parties when they made an appeal to the public to maintain peace and harmony in the country, amidst the increasing cases of religious intolerance.

The group of 13 non-BJP leaders who made the plea included NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, DMK chief and TN Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, CPI (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D. Raja, RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah. They faulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for maintaining silence on the violent incidents that broke out during the processions taken out by Hindus, as part of the Rama Navami celebrations. They alleged that the ruling party at the Centre was trying to polarise the society in the name of safeguarding the sanctity of a specific religion.

Spurt in communal clashes

Communal violence broke out in as many as six states — Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Delhi, Jharkhand and West Bengal, during the Rama Navami celebrations.

At least 10 houses were set ablaze and more than 12 people, including an SP, were injured in the clashes during Navami processions taken out in Khargone of Madhya Pradesh.

In Gujarat, one was killed at Khambat town in Anand during communal clashes that broke out between two communities in Himmat Nagar and Khambhat cities. Police fired tear gas shells to control mobs who pelted stones at each other and damaged shops.

There were reports of violence in West Bengal’s Howrah district, adjoining Kolkata, after a Rama Navami procession.

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered the bulldozing of illegally acquired properties of the accused in the incident. “We have identified 50 houses and shops built in encroached government land by the accused. All these properties will be demolished. Five houses have already been razed down,” a senior police officer said.

Stone-pelting and riots between Hindus and Muslims were also reported during the Navami processions.

Social media campaigns

Former MP and public speaker Undavalli Arun Kumar also said that a national party was inciting violence through its social media campaigns. Even learned people are falling into the trap of that party’s narrative and rhetoric, he lamented and warned that it would prove risky for Indians abroad. There are lakhs of Indians living in other countries and as a reaction to these clashes, our countrymen could be targeted by the Muslim-dominated countries, he said. Arun Kumar also said that none of the religious principles or Gods preach violence.

KCR, who had been vocal in forming the anti-BJP front and playing a key role at the Centre, had suddenly become quiet in carrying his mission forward. Just a couple of months ago, there was buzz that KCR would make his son, KTR, the Chief Minister of Telangana and that he would focus on national politics. He even met Mamata Banerjee, Stalin, Hemant Soren, Sitaram Yechury, Sharad Pawar, Tejashwi Yadav in the last few months in an attempt to form an anti-BJP front before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

For reasons unknown, all the speculations have been put to rest and the father-son duo restricted themselves to lambasting the BJP in their own state. KCR and the TRS leaders have been fuming at the Centre on the issue of paddy procurement. KCR even badmouthed the BJP and announced that the state government itself would open paddy purchasing centres and offer Rs 1,960 per tonne as MSP to the farmers.

Survival at stake

The change in the stance of KCR could be probably due to the insecurity he is facing from the BJP leaders in the state. The BJP leaders have already kept the father-son duo on tenterhooks, a year ahead of the Assembly elections, observed political analysts.

BJP state chief Bandi Sanjay, MP D. Arvind and MLA M. Raghunandan Rao are trying to begin argument with their own narratives and KCR is facing the heat of it. The fear of losing the next elections could have dampened KCR’s enthusiasm to play a pivotal role in forming the anti-BJP front. Apparently, he might be thinking of surviving in his own state rather than dreaming of national politics, political observers felt.