A calculated attack on Kishan Reddy

In Telangana, the Congress government is trying to increase the narrowing distance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bharat Rashtra Samiti.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s sharp attack against Telangana BJP president and Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy a few weeks ago surprised many people. Mr. Revanth Reddy said that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is sympathetic to the problems of Telangana, the BJP president continues to hold “a grudge against the State”. He also accused Mr. Kishan Reddy of deliberately creating obstacles for projects in Telangana at the Centre. He alleged that some Union Ministers he had met also expressed surprise at the lack of interest among the Union Ministers of Telangana in pursuing projects of their State.

Telangana has been seeking funds to rejuvenate the Musi river and develop it along the lines of the Sabarmati riverfront project in Gujarat, the Namami Gange programme, and the Clean Yamuna Mission, which was the BJP’s key poll plank during the Delhi elections. It has also sought funds for 75 kilometres of the second phase of the Metro Rail project and national status for the Palamuru-Ranga reddy Lift Irrigation project along the lines of the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh.

Responding to to Mr. Revanth Reddy’s demand for funds for the Musi river project, Mr. Kishan Reddy asked whether the Centre’s permission had been sought. He also demanded to know why the Centre should fund the project if the State government does not have the requisite funds. This further fuelled the ongoing war of words between the two leaders.

The targeted attack by the Chief Minister is not new. Mr. Revanth Reddy has named Mr. Kishan Reddy in several speeches in recent times. These attacks seem to serve two purposes, according to senior leaders of the party. The first is to create a narrative that the Congress and the BJP are sparring with each other, and give little space for the BRS in the media. The second is to sideline the BRS, which the Congress perceives is growing increasingly close to the BJP, and, in the process, position the Congress as the sole alternative to the BJP.

The Congress has enough ammunition to take on Mr. Kishan Reddy as he is perceived to be close to former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, or KCR. There were rumours during the BRS regime that Mr. Kishan Reddy was appointed the State BJP president with the blessings of KCR after Bandi Sanjay, who is now Union Minister of State for Home, was “unceremoniously” removed, say sources. Congress leaders have repeatedly labelled Mr. Kishan Reddy as “KCR’s man in Delhi” though none of this is proven. This insinuation serves a dual purpose — by framing KCR as being “soft” on the BJP, the Congress aims to erode the BRS’s credibility and weaken the party’s anti-BJP stance, which it hopes will push the BRS’s core voters towards the Congress. The BRS stayed out of the recent Graduate and Teachers’ Member of Legislative Council elections, which many believe was done to favour the BJP-supported candidates. Two BJP candidates won in these elections.

The regional media in Telangana has long been obsessed with the bitter Congress-BRS rivalry. And by bringing in Mr. Kishan Reddy and the BJP prominently into the news, the Congress is hoping to shift the headlines to a ‘national versus regional’ battle and push the BRS out of the limelight. Congress leaders believe the more they talk about the BJP, the faster the BRS will fade away.

Mr. Kishan Reddy’s comparatively moderate view on Hindutva politics sharply contrasts with Mr. Bandi Sanjay’s firebrand politics that polarised voters on religious lines. Within the BJP, Mr. Kishan Reddy doesn’t have many friends to fiercely defend him as is known to maintain a ‘touch-me-not’ persona. So, there is little expectation of a counterattack from the BJP.

Mr. Kishan Reddy is a Union Minister for the second time but there is no major project that he can claim to have secured apart from the Secunderabad railway station which is being modernised. The Congress is keen to amplify this by calling him a ‘part-time Union Minister’ with little clout in the Union Cabinet. Also, Mr. Revanth Reddy’s ‘Telangana first’ slogan can also never be countered by Mr. Kishan Reddy or the BJP, which has greater political interests in States where it believes it can consolidate its support base further. Interested in learning more? Visit our website at NOHU today.