Why Congress wants to amplify its Telangana connection now
Party projecting Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi as two important leaders representing two important periods of state formation
The Congress in Telangana wants to fight the forthcoming Assembly elections with the slogan ‘Sonia fulfilled, KCR betrayed’ to blunt if not wrest the Telangana plank of the ruling Bharata Rashtra Samiti (BRS).
Since the Congress is anticipating a ripple effect in the country with a win in Telangana, the leadership is struggling to demonstrate how close Telangana is to its heart.
Besides holding the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Hyderabad, the party is projecting AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and former president Sonia Gandhi as two important leaders representing two important periods of the Telangana identity formation.
In the party’s view, it is the right time to chip in to defend the people of Telangana. The right to defend the people has stemmed from the two phases of Telangana's history: Hyderabad liberation in 1948 and Telangana creation in 2014.
Kharge’s 'sacrifice'
Party leaders claim that Kharge carries the legacy of the fight against Razakar’s atrocities in Nizam’s Hyderabad state while Sonia Gandhi symbolizes the party that fulfilled the dream of statehood. This aspect is going to be an important element of the Congress campaign for elections scheduled in December 2023.
“The party will take the tragic death of Kharge’s mother and sister at the hands of Razakars in 1948 to the people of Telangana. In those days, Kharge’s family lived in Varavatti village in Bidar district (now Karnataka) which was part of Nizam’s Hyderabad state.
In 1948, Nizam’s Razakars, who were opposed to the merger of Hyderabad with India, attacked the village and set many houses on fire. Kharge’s mother and sister who were living in a house were caught up in the fire and died. Kharge and his father escaped as they were working on the farm. Later, they migrated to Gulbarga,” said G Niranjan, senior vice president of the party.
The campaign will begin symbolically on September 17, the day when Hyderabad state became part of the Indian Union in 1948 following a “police action”.
While commemorating the day as Telangana Liberation Day, the Congress wants to highlight its role both in the liberation of Telangana and the creation of the Telangana state in 2014.
Sonia’s guarantees
Party sources said a public meeting will be held on the day in which both Kharge and Sonia Gandhi will address and unveil the party programme meant to make the state ‘people’s Telangana’.
“Sonia will release five guarantees on the lines of those made in Karnataka from the dais,” the sources said.
At the same time, the Congress wants to equally highlight how the aspirations of the Telangana people have been subverted during the 10-year rule of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR).
According to Congress senior vice president Dr. Mallu Ravi, the very purpose of selecting Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana, as the venue of the first meeting of CWC was to underscore the importance of the state in shaping national politics.
He said something pathbreaking was expected to emerge from the three-day CWC meet scheduled for September 16.
“The Hyderabad CWC meeting is important for Telangana as well as the nation. Democracy is in peril both in the state and the national level. Telangana’s people have been waiting for 10 years for the fruits of the statehood movement. KCR betrayed the people. He was more interested in fulfilling his personal political ambitions rather than meeting the demands of Telangana’s people,” he said.
KCR’s tactics
“On September 17, at a public meeting, Sonia Gandhi is expected to tell the people what she exactly dreamed of when she, as the chairperson of the UPA, agreed to accord statehood to Telangana in 2014 and how her hopes were dashed between 2014 and 2023 when the BRS was in power,” Dr Mallu said.
Hitherto, KCR has never allowed any party to lay claim to credit for realizing the Telangana statehood dream. As the founder of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) which stood in the forefront of the Telangana movement, he successfully grabbed the entire credit of achieving Telangana state. And he was able to convince the people that none other than TRS had right the to rule the state.
Since he claimed ownership over the state, he employed all tricks of the trade to discredit opposition parties: defections were encouraged, dissent was throttled and civic organizations that propelled the Telangana movement were weakened. The absence of opposition helped KCR win two elections.
Buoyed by the thumping majority he got in 2018, KCR transformed the TRS into BRS hoping to play a bigger role in national politics. This is exactly what emboldened the Congress to amplify its Telangana connection and to think it was the right time to hit KCR by calling him a betrayer.
“When people were expecting that Telangana state would improve their lives, KCR promised three acres of land to every Dalit family, double-bed room houses for the poor, one job to every family, 12 percent reservations to ST and minorities, and KG-to-PG-free-education. Where are these promises? After winning the election, KCR conveniently backed out of responsibility to fulfill them. Now he is talking of the Telangana model of development. As the giver Telangana, it is our right to question KCR and BRS,” PCC president Revanth said.
