How TRS brought the MLC election into spotlight
KCR's decision to field PV Narasimha Rao’s daughter Vani Devi as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi candidate against BJP’s sitting MLC N Ramachandra Rao has turned the election to the Graduates’ MLC constituency of Hyderabad-Ranga Reddy-Mahbubnagar, into an interesting contest.
The Telangana CM has never taken the election to graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies too seriously so far. But now, he’s pulling all the stops in his bid to show BJP its place in the state. In fact, the TRS supremo has put his focus on the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda Graduates’ constituency too by fielding Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, who runs a group of educational institutions and is also a sitting member of the State Legislative Council. KCR is aware of the strong anti-incumbency against BJP candidate Ramachandra Rao — he hardly delivered anything in the last six years — would help the TRS. The TRS is also trying to harness the strong anti-incumbency against the BJP-led Centre with the rise in prices of fuel and other household products.
The TRS has not taken the council elections lying down. Party’s working president and Minister KT Rama Rao is campaigning aggressively and meeting people from different sectors every day and addressing multiple meetings. He is essentially laying emphasis on what the TRS government has delivered in the last six years and seeking votes. KCR has appointed three ministers as in-charges for each of the three districts in the high-profile constituency of Hyderabad-Ranga Reddy-Mahbubnagar. One of them is his nephew and Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao.
By taking up a high-decibel campaign against the “assertive statement” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the government had no business to be in business and that it would privatise all PSUs in the light of protests sparked off over the move to privatise Vizag Steel Plant, the TRS has been able to draw the attention of the employees of the numerous PSUs in this MLC constituency. Job creation is another issue the TRS is claiming credit for. Ever since the formation of Telangana, a total of 1.30 lakh vacancies in government jobs were filled in Telangana. As many as 15 lakh jobs were created in Small and Medium Enterprises, Major Industries and IT in the State in the last six years.
Interestingly, the contest was purportedly between the independent candidate, Prof K Nageshwar, a former professor in journalism at Osmania University, who was elected from the same seat twice, and BJP’s Ramachandra Rao (sitting MLC and a prominent lawyer). But KCR sprang a surprise by pitting the late PV Narasimha Rao’s daughter Vani Devi, who has never been in politics, against the two popular candidates.
Who is Vani Devi?
One of the daughters of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, Surabhi Vani Devi, has established and been managing the Sri Venkateshwara group of educational institutions, including pharmacy, fine arts and architecture colleges, a junior college, and a model school. She has been a social activist and an academic, and the TRS is projecting the former PM’s contribution to the country as its campaign plank.
The TRS has been campaigning for Bharat Ratna to Narasimha Rao and is also effectively telling the people that Congress deliberately insulted “one of India’s greatest Prime Ministers” even in his death.
Besides, the TRS is telling people that the state has overtaken the national average in terms of growth and also the per capita income of people.
The state has registered a growth of 1.35 per cent in gross state domestic product (GSDP) in the current fiscal (2020-21), while it posted a 0.61 per cent increase in per capita income, according to the Directorate of Economics and Statistics. The state registered growth despite the Covid pandemic and ensuing lockdown, while the GDP (gross domestic product) of the country fell by 3.8 per cent from Rs 203.51 lakh crore to Rs 195.86 lakh crore. The per capita income fell by 4.8 per cent at the national level.
Though caste angle may not play a very significant role in this election, both the TRS and BJP candidates are Brahmins, while another strong contender, Prof Nageshwar, belongs to the Vysya community. Congress and TDP have also fielded candidates but they are not very significant in the race.
With the TRS firing all proverbial cylinders, the high-octane election has become very significant for both the parties — TRS and BJP.
Also read: Why KTR's coronation as Telangana Chief Minister looks almost certain