KCR's gift of the gab in full display!

Undoubtedly, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao stands tall among contemporary Indian politicians when it comes to oratory skills and delivering pulsating speeches. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is equally brilliant in mesmerising the audience but KCR is capable of outshining Modi on his day. Both of them,in fact,offer a 'bright big picture' with their gift of the gab but KCR, on certain special occasions, takes listeners several notches above by presenting a 'brightest biggest picture' to win their hearts and souls. People of Telangana should feel proud that they have dreamers, visionaries and communicators par excellence as their PM and CM!

It is a matter of pride for Telugus that another home-grown party, after Telugu Desam, has completed two decades of public service and the centre of attraction and the man of the moment is the founder of the TRS.

KCR left the party machinery spellbound with his self-trumpeting but all-encompassing speech at the plenary that marked the two-decade milestone of TRS in Hyderabad on Monday. The plenary showcased the development story of the youngest State under his stewardship, while dropping enough indications about the 'future' of some leaders. The plenary proceedings went meticulously well as planned by the leadership.

First things first. Stage management before and during the plenary was awesome. The 'unanimous' re-election of KCR as the TRS president, ninth consecutive time in a row, drew thunderous applause. The selection in the name of election per se was a mere technical formality in political parties.

Not surprisingly, the president and the working president K T Rama Rao stole the show. Every flexi in the city had the biggest picture of KCR, bigger photo of KTR and big pic of the leader who sponsored it.

Telangana's journey from 'crisis of confidence' to 'fully confident' was encapsulated by KCR and the heir-apparent with an unequivocal firmness. KCR's nephew and Man Friday T Harish Rao missed the bus as he was steering the party campaigning for the Huzurabad Assembly by-election, slated for October 30. Apparently, he excused himself to make use of every minute to ensure the victory for the ruling party candidate pitted against his old friend Eatala Rajendar of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Just before the conclusion of the plenary when the vote of thanks was to be proposed, KCR moved a resolution to amend the party's constitution to automatically transfer powers of the president to the working president. It was duly endorsed by the plenary by way of a round of applause.

The two leading Telugu parties, TRS and TDP, are in the hands of a father-son combination that overly indicates the power of hereditary politics and exposes the insecurity in the political behemoths. The duo- KTR and Nara Lokesh- are still seen as greenhorns by seasoned politicians in TRS and TDP. Instead, I opt for Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu and Harish Rao as the working presidents of TDP and TRS respectively.

KTR is doing extremely well as Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and Information Technology. He stands heads and shoulders above his cabinet colleagues, none of whom is a patch on him vis-à-vis articulation and presentation. The '3 I' (encouraging Innovation, expanding Infrastructure and espousing Inclusive growth) mantra chanted by the young minister struck the right chord as it does with any audience before whom he delivers a speech. It is indeed unfair to compare KTR with Lokesh on any available parameter.

KCR gave enough hints to his cadre to call him as the 'Father of Telangana' because of the dogged determination he had shown, braving all odds, to achieve statehood. KCR was very apt in referring to 287 different agitations and protests launched by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. He likened the Telangana movement to the freedom struggle.

Undeterred by his rivals' doubts over his brainchild, Dalit Bandhu, KCR unveiled a blueprint for the highly ambitious scheme meant for SCs in the State. In an oblique dig at the Election Commission, he made it clear that as soon as the by-election gets over, the wealth-generating scheme will be implemented in the constituency and it would be replicated across the State thereafter.

As an all-conquering Grandmaster KCR checkmated attempts by opposition leaders to provoke people from other communities to demand their pound of flesh. He silenced the opposition voices when he said that Dalit Bandhu-like schemes awaits tribals, backward classes, minorities and poor among upper castes as eradicating poverty was his prime motto. It remains to be seen how the EC would react to KCR's utterances when the code of conduct is in force.

As a smart operator, whose political acumen has held him in good stead right from the time he walked out on Naidu and his TDP, KCR is a class unto himself. If something goes wrong in Huzurabad (and Rajendar retains the seat), the buck can be passed on to EC's hyper-reaction. Even as the plenary was on, the Telangana High Court reserved its order on three PILs seeking suspension of EC's order deferring implementation of Dalit Bandhu in Huzurabad Assembly segment till the completion of the by-election.

KCR made it clear that Dalit Bandhu would cover all 17 lakh Dalit families in the State, if voted to power in the next elections. He counted on the five years he would get after the next Assembly elections scheduled for December 2023. "The government will spend over Rs 23 lakh crore by 2028 on schemes and projects. Of this, spending Rs 1.7 lakh crore is not a big thing. Moreover, this Rs 1.7 lakh crore spent on Dalit Bandhu will create wealth of Rs 10 lakh crore as Dalits will set up business units and contribute to economic growth and job creation," was the logic with which the Chief Minister substantiated his arguments. KCR dedicated considerable part of his speech to highlight his government's achievement on irrigation front.

No fuss over petrol and gas prices

The TRS is effectively highlighting the issue of increase in prices of cooking gas, petrol and diesel in its election campaigns in Huzurabad constituency to corner the BJP but there was not even a word about these prices in the plenary. A strong-worded resolution to this effect could have come as a proof of the party's sincerity in working for the common man. A few minutes of time on the contentious three farm laws would have put an end to the speculation that KCR has kept his options wide open with BJP.

Similarly, Covid epidemic that rattled every section of the society did not get its due. Though a resolution on health spoke about setting up of medical colleges in every district, it has not mentioned anything related to the health emergency caused by the pandemic.

Another notable feature during the plenary was the absence of his rhetoric and penchant for media-bashing. No leader spoke against any media. It is rather unthinkable because KCR never minces words when it comes to targeting media and accusing their 'bias' and 'pre-conceived' priorities.

May be he is firm in his belief that media across genres has pulled up its socks and is discharging its duty to appropriate levels! In hindsight, it can be said that most media houses are going soft on the government and the ruling party mouth-pieces are doing the job exceedingly well. Perhaps, KCR is happy with the media.

Another notable shocker in KCR's speech has been his claim that he had received a plethora of invitations to launch TRS (may be 'APRS') in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. It is hard to take the claim at its face-value rest assured there is more to it than meets the eye.KCR announced that TRS is financially sound with Rs.420 crore in fixed deposits on which it earns Rs 2 crore interest every month. The figure, 420, is not a joke!

(The author, a PhD in Communication and Journalism, is a senior journalist, journalism educator and communication consultant)

(The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of The Hans India)