Why statehood movement heads feel ‘national leader' KCR should support them

What would Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s (KCR) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) mean to various regions that have been demanding statehood for decades? Would BRS’s upcoming manifesto extend support to statehood demands from as many as 22 regions in the country, including Vidarbha, Bundelkhand, Harit Pradesh, and Gorkhaland?

Leaders from various autonomy-seeking regions believe that Rao, as the leader of the Telangana sub-regional identity movement, ought to extend support to similar aspirations and include it in the party manifesto.

Inspiration to many

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) — as the BRS was called until last week — had in its formative years derived inspiration from many separate statehood demands, such as Vidarbha, Bundelkhand, and Harit Pradesh. In turn, it had kindled hopes among the people agitating for statehood, which were much older than the idea of Telangana.

Before the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, KCR held consultations with the leaders of these movements. When the Telangana movement gained momentum, all these movements started looking towards Rao for guidance and support. The formation of the National Front for New States (NFNS) in 2003 owes its origins to the growing popularity of the Telangana movement.

Also read: KCR’s TRS turns BRS: Masterstroke or misadventure?

So, in principle, KCR’s entry into national politics to become an alternative to Narendra Modi should give a new lease of life to statehood aspirations. The question is whether KCR will address this issue, considering it is bound to annoy the regional parties in power, or become the voice of these people at the national level.

Time to return favour

According to former MLC K Dileep Kumar, KCR had remained in touch with leaders from various sub-regions, including Vasanth Sathe (Vidarbha) and Ajit Singh (Harith Pradesh), throughout the Telangana movement.

The vocal support for Telangana statehood from the MPs of these regions strengthened the hands of KCR, said Dileep, who was KCR’s personal secretary when he was Union Minister of Labour in the UPA-1 regime.

“Half-a-dozen parties from regions of statehood movement were among the 33 that submitted letters in support of a separate Telangana state. It is but natural that these regions expect support from BRS leadership on their demand,” recalled Dileep, who is now with the BJP.

Welcome news: Chhetri

The one-day brouhaha of renaming of TRS as BRS on October 5 looked confined primarily to Telangana. Dussehra festivities in various parts of the country seem to have precluded the BRS from becoming all-India news.

Also read: Why neighbour Andhra may throw a spanner in KCR’s national dreams

Talking to The Federal from Kalimpong, West Bengal, Dr Harka Bahadur Chhetri, a prominent leader of the Gorkhaland movement, said he was not aware of the formation of BRS by KCR.

“Still, it’s great news. Sometime ago, we submitted a presentation on Gorkhaland to KCR’s daughter Kavitha when she was the Lok Sabha MP. We sought TRS’s support. We could not secure it at that time. Due to the changed political situation at the Centre and state levels, we are maintaining a low profile for the time being. Still, we welcome Rao’s entry into national politics. But, as the leader of the successful Telangana movement and now chief of a national party, KCR must take a stand on statehood demands of Gorkhaland. Cooperation is reciprocal. If the BRS extends support to Gorkhaland’s demand, we would also support KCR’s BRS,” Chhetri said.

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We’ll wait and watch: Muttemwar

Congress veteran and a leader from Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, Vilas Bhaurao Muttemwar, also expressed similar sentiments. He was also not aware of the formation of BRS even though the region shares a border with Telangana. Stating that it was incumbent on the Telangana leader to support Vidarbha statehood in reciprocation to Sonia Gandhi’s gesture in favour of caving out a separate Telangana state, the former Union minister from Nagpur said KCR should not forget that Sonia was responsible for the creation of Telangana state.

“Vidarbha statehood demand is very much alive. But we are waiting for the right time to raise the demand at the advice of Sonia Gandhiji,” he said, sounding sceptical about KCR’s rise at the national level on an anti-BJP plank.

“Many chief ministers, national leaders, and regional parties have been trying to forge an alternative to the BJP at the Centre. Instead of strengthening these forces, creating another national party in the name of opposing BJP would only help communal forces. But it is too early to talk about BRS’s support to statehood demands. Let us see what shape it is going to take and how it is going to oppose the BJP,” said Muttemwar, a seven-term MP.

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May help BJP: Mallu Ravi

Dr Mallu Ravi, a former MP and Telangana Congress leader, feels that KCR should clearly reveal his stand on the demands for statehood from various sub-regions in India.

“KCR is talking of the Telangana model. The Telangana model means regional identity and the realisation of statehood aspiration of the people. Promising to implement the Telangana model means voicing support to similar statehood demand from other regions, such as Vidarbha and Bundelkhand. He cannot escape from it. BRS should make its stand clear on the creation of new states,” Ravi said.

Prof Haragopal, who taught political science at the University of Hyderabad, had reservations about KCR’s credentials to don the role of a national leader. He said KCR had chosen a wrong path to become a national alternative to the BJP.

“KCR’s anti-BJP stand is a questionable premise. As many as 22 regions across India are demanding statehood. If he is sincere about becoming a national leader, he should have first become the champion of these sub-regional demands. That would have elevated his stature to the national level. But he wants to become a national leader with anti-BJP rhetoric. It looks like he is hiding his real intention,” he told The Federal.

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According to Haragopal, the BRS might end up helping BJP by creating a split in anti-BJP votes, especially from the farming community, which had resisted Modi’s farm policies.

A new regional party?

Kurapati Venkatanarayana, a former economics professor from Kakatiya University, Warangal, who is considered a Telangana ideologue, has little hope that BRS would rekindle the statehood movements in various states.

Along with Prof Jayashankar, former vice-chancellor of the same university, Venkatanarayana was a member of the team of intellectuals that had prepared ground in the late 1990s for the launch of a separate state movement.

Venkatanarayana believes that converting the TRS into BRS amounts to divorcing from the ideals of the statehood movement once for all. “The basic goals of the Telangana movement — funds, water, and jobs — are still unrealisable. The performance of the TRS government in these three areas has been dismal. Since failures are expected to haunt the chief minister, he has taken refuge in BRS and anti-BJP rhetoric. So, he is unlikely to become the voice of statehood movements in India,” he said.

The former economics professor did not rule out the emergence of a new regional party to realise the aspirations of the Telangana movement once BRS got recognition from the Election Commission of India.