With all credits for Sonia, Revanth govt retells story of Telangana movement

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has taken a decisive step to rewrite the history of the Telangana statehood movement that birthed the 29^th state of India in February 2014. The new story revolves around Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, then the party president.

As a first step, Revanth Reddy announced that the state formation day would be celebrated henceforth every year on December 9 instead of on June 2, the ‘appointed day’ fixed by the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganization Act 2014.

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A Government Order was issued in Telugu on Monday which stated that December 9 will be marked as Telangana Talli Avatarana Utsavam (Telangana Talli Birthday celebration) as a state function every year.

Telangana birthday changed

Unveiling a Telangana Talli statue on Monday evening, Revanth Reddy said: “December 9 is an auspicious day and the government has decided to celebrate the formation of the state officially on that day.”

The day, which was never recognized as a landmark by the previous Bharata Rashtra Samiti (BRS) government, is significant for the Congress for two reasons.

It was on December 9 in 2009 that the then Union home minister P Chidambaram made a midnight announcement stating that the process of forming Telangana will be initiated and an appropriate resolution would be moved in the state Assembly.

Sonia Gandhi’s birthday

Also, the day coincides with the birthday of Sonia Gandhi who was responsible for Chidambaram’s statement.

The Congress in Telangana always sought to describe the statehood as her birthday gift for the people of Telangana. But the date got buried in the din of the K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR)-centric narrative of Telangana movement in which he alone mattered.

Dates have a distinct political colour in the history of modern Telangana. For KCR, who headed the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (now BRS) that fought for statehood, November 29, 2009 was the turning point.

KCR’s hunger strike and politics

On the day, KCR launched a fast-unto-death with the slogan ‘KCR Chachhudo, Telangana Vacchudo’ (Either KCR’s death or realization of Telangana). He sat for 11 days on hunger strike. According to BRS, it was the near-death of KCR that prompted Chidambaram to make the midnight statement. So, reacting to Revanth’s government order, BRS working president KT Ramarao (KTR) said: “There would have been no December 9 if there was no November 29.”

Ever Since KCR assumed office as the chief minister in 2014, every attempt was made to make him as the sole hero of the movement. Flaunting the pictures of an emaciated fasting KCR on the hospital bed, the BRS used to say that KCR had wrested the statehood from the Congress president while fighting for life.

KCR centric story

Weak, thin, pale and lifeless images of KCR were tactically deployed whenever the party faced crisis and fought elections. Every care was taken not to show any other leader who participated in the movement, though the later part of the movement was led by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC), a forum of all political parties and civil society organizations, headed by Prof M Kodandaram, with KCR confining himself to the background.

The rejection of the Congress, BJP and the Left parties by the people in the elections almost vindicated the KCR-centric narrative of the BRS. A subculture of KCR cult, in the form of milk-baths to KCR portraits, was promoted. Text books were written to promote this narrative.

Many intellectuals of the state, who were accommodated in the government, acted as echo chambers for the KCR-centric narrative. Against this backdrop, KCR’s family loomed large over state politics in the form of son KTR, daughter Kavita and nephews Harish Rao and Santosh Rao.

Congress fights back

Now, the Congress is determined to alter this narrative with Sonia Gandhi as the central figure.

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The anointment of Sonia Gandhi as the ‘founder of Telangana’ looks a well-calculated move by Revanth Reddy. To make the ground favorable for the replacement of KCR from the narrative, the chief minister sought to make KCR and his family unpopular with charges of corruption, telephone tapping, land grab and abuse of authority.

Revanth Reddy said: “KCR used the Telangana movement as the protective shield to do all types of nefarious activities. Now the veil is out.”

KCR faces corruption probe

Equally articulate as KCR, Revanth Reddy used his one-year rule to convince people how the KCR family used every project for its benefit. He appointed two commissions to inquire into the role of KCR in the high-cost construction of the Kaleshwaram Project, whose piers sunk at the Medigadda barrage, and power purchase agreements.

The state CID is investigating the alleged phone tapping by the BRS brass by using Israel software.

The effective campaign by Revanth Reddy’s team forced KCR to confine himself to a farmhouse in his constituency Gajwel, 100 km away from Hyderabad. His occasional meetings with party leaders and defensive statements have not been able to enthuse the cadre and fill the leadership void.

Congress claims credit

The Congress government took advantage of the infelicitous condition of the BRS first family to make Sonia Gandhi’s date of birth as the date of celebration of the state’s formation.

“The Congress is giving due recognition to December 9 in Telangana history,” said state irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy. Addressing the Assembly on Monday, he said: “The December 9 statement was the starting point for the state formation. It demonstrates Sonia Gandhi’s commitment to statehood in spite of the fact that it was bound to hurt the party in Andhra Pradesh.”

The unveiling of the Telangana Talli statue and shifting of the state formation day celebrations from June 2 to December 9 are clear attempts to push KCR to the margins by installing Sonia Gandhi as the real founder of Telangana.

Sonia Gandhi glorified

On Monday, a new goddess was born in Telangana. In Gandhi Bhavan, the party’s office, dozens of leaders praised Sonia Gandhi as Goddess of Telangana while celebrating her birthday.

One will have to wait and watch to see how the people of Telangana and Sonia herself react to the unusual development in the state.