Former Telangana Chief Minister and BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) today attended the assembly session and chaired it in the opposition leader’s position. Since losing power, he has only attended the assembly once formally, after a gap of a year and a half.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has been criticizing KCR for not attending the assembly sessions and escaping the responsibilities of an opposition leader. KCR wanted to avoid the assembly for this long so that the new government could complete one or one and a half years of rule.
Yesterday, KCR, at his party meeting, said that the Congress was given 15 months to get its act right, but the government failed on all actions. He pointed out the growing discontent among all sections of the public and asked the MLAs to question the ruling party on the worsening conditions across the State.
On Wednesday, the assembly session began with the governor’s speech.
Many pressing issues like water disputes with Andhra Pradesh, withering crops, inter-State river disputes, the SLBC tunnel collapse, and unfulfilled promises of six guarantees are going to come up this session. While KCR and his leaders will try to corner the government on these issues, the ruling government headed by Revanth Reddy is also waiting to attack KCR about his 10-year rule.
On the other hand, Revanth Reddy has been proclaiming that his government fulfilled many poll promises, like free buses for women, waivers of loans for farmers, completing Group 1 exams, and handing over appointment letters to more than 50,000 new employees.
The Congress government wants to expose KCR’s failure to generate employment. So, both sides will have ready-made materials to attack one another.
KCR believes that Revanth Reddy and the state BJP leadership have a tacit understanding, and they are helping each other to completely collapse the BRS party. Sensing their ploys, KCR has decided to strengthen his party from the grassroots.
He also wanted to put an end to the criticism of him not attending the assembly.
KCR ruled the state for two terms. In 2014, the state of Telangana formed, and he became its first chief minister. Defeating KCR’s BRS party, Congress came into power in November 2023, and Revanth Reddy became the chief minister. Therefore, this is KCR’s first opportunity to assume the role of an opposition leader.
KCR and Revanth Reddy don’t have cordial relations. Given the fact that Revanth Reddy was served a jail term in the case of the vote-for-note scam during KCR’s first term, the current chief minister has been waiting to humiliate the former chief minister in the assembly.
Knowing well the tactics of Revanth Reddy, KCR reportedly came fully prepared. In the coming days, we will be seeing some heated exchanges and disruptions during the assembly session.
In the coming months, local body elections will be held in the state. All parties in the state have set their eyes on the elections, and this assembly session will be used as a political platform to get the upper hand against each other. KCR’s BRS party will also be celebrating 25 years of its existence next month. Before holding a big public meeting, the former chief minister made a public appearance in the assembly. He will continue to be involved in his party affairs more aggressively henceforth.