4 things that shook foundation of KCR-led BRS govt in Telangana in 2023

The year that's ending this week was probably the worst one for the nine-year-old Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government of K Chandrashekar Rao, KCR for short. It stands out in the 22-year history of BRS (formerly TRS) as one that began on a bad note and ended with a disaster.

Four events occurred so suddenly and unnoticeably that the BRS supremo could not find time to weather them before they snowballed into a major controversy. The veteran of the Telangana statehood movement fumbled for justifications for these manmade mishaps, and could find none. They marred the party’s prospects in the November Assembly elections.

1. Question paper leak

The string of incidents commenced on March 14, when Hyderabad police registered a case over the alleged leak of question paper of a Group-1 preliminary examination for state government jobs. The exam was conducted by the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) in October 2022.

In no time, the issue acquired threatening dimensions and led to the cancelation of the exam, affecting the about 2.5 lakh students who cracked it. As preliminary investigation confirmed the leak of the question paper, the commission had to cancel all the exams conducted, much to the disappointment of nearly 30 lakh unemployed youth registered with TSPSC.

In an attempt to pacify the angry youth, the TSPSC hurriedly reconducted the Group-1 Prelims on June 11. The shoddy way the exam was held was challenged in the High Court, which directed the TSPSC in September to cancel it. By the time the campaign for the November 30 Assembly elections began, all exams had been cancelled and aspirants in lakhs went back home to their respective districts in utter disappointment.

2. Delhi liquorgate

The second incident that rattled the KCR government was the alleged involvement of his daughter K Kavita in the Delhi liquor scam. The fact that a woman member of the chief minister’s family was involved in a scam badly affected the image of the 'first family'.

The frequent grilling of Kavita by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) made people believe that her arrest was imminent. The repeated statements by BJP leaders and Union ministers lent credence to the talk. At one point, even KCR told party leaders that her arrest was inescapable.

The controversy that made headlines in the first quarter of the year tarnished the reputation of the party so badly that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi singled out Kavitha as the main beneficiary of the KCR regime during one of his election campaign speeches.

3. 'B-team of BJP' narrative

The third major incident that made the party unpopular was the replacement of Bandi Sanjay by Union Tourism Minister Kishan Reddy as the state BJP president. Though this was an internal affair of the saffron party, the loser was the BRS. Because, it created an impression that following the Congress win in Karnataka, the BRS and BJP had struck a deal to scuttle the revival of the Congress in Telangana.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, while touring Telangana, called the BRS a B team of the BJP. It stuck. KCR made Congress the sole target ever since, and this was seen as evidence of a BRS-BJP deal.

4. Medigadda project setback

The fourth misfortune that stuck the KCR government in the thick of the campaign was the sinking of the piers of the prestigious Medigadda Barrage built across River Godavari. Medigadda was part of the Kaleswaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, which KCR used to tout as the antidote for all of Telangana's ills.

The sagging of the barrage took place when leaders such as Union Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and Rahul Gandhi were all branding it as the 'ATM' of KCR. The reference to the project as a boon for Telangana suddenly disappeared from KCR's campaign speeches in October. This followed a central expert team finding that the sinking was the result of the project's planning, design, operation and quality control failures.

Poor governance

According to Dr Kesavulu Neta, president of the Telangana Intellectuals Forum, all these incidents shook people’s confidence in the KCR government.

“The TSPSC question paper leak, Kavita’s alleged role in the Delhi liquor scam and the Medigadda mishap symbolised corruption. Even the year's major events such as the inauguration of a castle-like secretariat, the unveiling of the 125 feet tall Ambedkar Statue and the massive memorial built for Telangana martyrs paled into insignificance before these incidents,” he said.

Neta added that 2023 would be remembered as a year of political disasters in BRS’ history.