Fear factor? KCR’s ‘obsession’ with Revanth Reddy raises eyebrows in Telangana

The Telangana Assembly election campaign had started as a contest between BRS’s “10 years of development” and Congress’s six guarantees. After a month, however, the campaign has boiled down to a duel between Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (popularly called KCR) and state Congress president A Revanth Reddy.

The Congress is yet to announce its chief ministerial candidate. However, KCR, the Bharata Rashtra Samiti (BRS) president, has almost acknowledged Reddy as his rival. What surprises many is that KCR, who never recognizes any leader as his equal and always categorizes himself in the league of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, is taking Reddy’s name way too often, asking the people to defeat him.

KCR’s unparalleled career

KCR, who entered politics 45 years ago as a Youth Congress leader, joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1983. He won every election till 2004 and became a minister in the NT Rama Rao and Chandrababu Naidu Cabinets. He was also Deputy Speaker of the Assembly of the united Andhra Pradesh for some time.

KCR formed the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in 2001 to spearhead the separate statehood movement, which was achieved in 2014. Between 2004 and 2014, he was a Lok Sabha MP and Union Minister of Labour. In short, his career is an unparalleled success story in Telangana politics.

However, that has prompted KCR to consider all contemporary political leaders as insignificant and unworthy of his mention. Whenever he has taken names, it has been either patronizingly or disdainfully. He thinks of himself as a class apart.

Portraying Reddy as the “bad boy”

In the past month, KCR has never asked the people of Telangana to defeat any particular individual by taking his/her name. But, for some reason, he seems obsessed with Reddy.

Addressing a Praja Ashirvada Sabha (public meeting) at Kodangal, Reddy’s original Assembly constituency, KCR emphasised that the Congress leader would never become a chief minister. In his 25-minute address, he mentioned Reddy some 20 times to portray him as the bad boy of Telangana. He branded Reddy as a “fraudster”, “landgrabber”, “criminal”, “destabilizer”, “immoral”, “hooligan”, “Andhra agent”, and “foul-mouthed”, to list a few of the epithets.

Campaigning for BRS candidate Pantam Narender Reddy, KCR actually put a “bounty” on Reddy’s defeat. He promised to release hundreds of crores of rupees for the constituency if they defeated Reddy. He also promised to promote to Narender Reddy if the other Reddy was defeated.

“Revanth Reddy had tried to destabilize the newly elected TRS (now BRS) government in a newly created Telangana state in 2015. He was caught red-handed with Rs 50 lakh while trying to bribe an MLA. He was put behind bars. Yet, he had the audacity to call it a ‘medal’,” KCR reminisced.

Accusing Reddy of taking bribes, selling party tickets, and encroaching upon hundreds of acres of land in Kondagal, the chief minister asked, “Do we need such people in Telangana politics?”

Branding Reddy as the “agent” of Andhra Pradesh, KCR claimed the Congress leader had brandished a gun, vowing to shoot down Telangana activists when he had come across a procession.

Why the obsession?

So, why is KCR so obsessed with Revanth Reddy, whose political career took off only in 2007, when he was elected as an MLC? Before that, he was only a Zilla Parishad Territorial Council (ZPTC) member. Later, he joined TDP and was elected to the Assembly in 2009 and 2014. In 2017, he joined the Congress but lost the 2018 election. But he got elected to Lok Sabha in 2019. He was appointed the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president in 2021. Why does KCR look so unsettled by Reddy’s presence in the fray?

BRS spokesperson Prof. Sravan Dasoju defended KCR’s scathing attack on Reddy. “The chief minister is cautioning voters about the dangers of electing a landgrabber, fraudster, and casteist. He is enlightening the voters about the need to cast their votes after considering the candidates’ qualities. He has highlighted how a vote for Patnam Narender would bring development to their constituency. What is wrong with that?” Dasoju argued.

Fear factor?

However, political commentator and psychiatrist Dr B Kesavulu Neta believes KCR’s intemperate reaction could be the result of a fear of a particular individual.

“KCR sees Reddy as more dangerous than the Congress. His mind might be visualizing the possible negative consequences if Reddy becomes chief minister. In KCR’s view, everyone in Congress is manageable except Reddy, who has consolidated the party in a way that KCR never imagined. Reddy is contesting from two seats, and in the Kamareddy constituency, Reddy is KCR’s main rival. Any ‘mishap’ may have serious political consequences,” Dr Kesavulu Neta said.

Veteran political observer Nandiraju Radhakrishna also described KCR’s remarks against Reddy as “fear-generated”. Radhakrishna, who has reported on Telugu politics for five decades, told The Federal, “Unusually, under Reddy’s leadership, Congress looks united. Dissidence is under control. All subregional satraps are working silently for the party. KCR is clueless about how Congress achieved this and grew stronger under a relatively young leader. If media reports are to be believed, KCR is said to have consulted poll strategist Prashant Kishor for a salvaging formula. It shows KCR is scared.”

Dr Mallu Ravi, Congress senior vice-president, described KCR’s reaction as the “height of frustration”. “KCR addressed the Kodangal meeting after touring 74 constituencies. He might have seen the writing on the wall across the state. The BRS is fighting an organizationally strong Congress. The CM never expected Reddy to be so effective in his leadership,” Mallu said.

R Vengupopal, a teacher from Kodangal, also found KCR’s speech quite unnatural. “KCR never takes the names of Opposition leaders. He thinks they are not qualified enough to be called ‘leaders’. For the first time, KCR is chanting Reddy’s name, urging the people to defeat him in both constituencies, Kamareddy and Kodangal. He must have received reports that Reddy is drawing favourable public attention,” he said.