Telangana Chief Minister. K Chandrashekar Rao used to be someone the BJP could rely on - so why exactly has he suddenly gone ballistic? KCR, as he is known, has attacked not just the BJP, or the Centre, but the PM, mocking his famous "Gujarat model" and alleging that the PM chooses outfits based on elections, pandering to states which are heading to vote.
KCR and his party, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS, have sided with the BJP on crucial matters in parliament, voting with the ruling party and regularly breaking ranks with the Opposition.
What has changed? Check out these 13 reasons:
1. National role: KCR has national political ambitions. Targeting the PM is a sure-shot way of being noticed as a viable frontline leader ahead of the next general election. It also presents him to other Opposition leaders as a daredevil partner, fearless in taking the battle right to the PM's doorstep.
2. State vs Centre and Regional vs National: KCR speaks often about both national parties, the Congress and the BJP, failing the needs of states. KCR would like to cash in on any disillusionment with the national parties, and sees an opportunity for regional players like him to present an alternative. So he trashes the PM's "Gujarat model" or election-winning strategies as social media gimmickry while claiming that he is in contrast running the real model-state.
3. Fluent in Hindi: KCR is articulate in Hindi and English as well as Telugu and Urdu. At the press conference on Tuesday, where he announced his intent to play a national role, KCR spoke extensively and articulately not just in Telugu and in English, but also in Hindi, especially when targeting the Centre - this ensures that a national audience knows exactly what he said. This is a big advantage he enjoys over several other leaders like Chandrababu Naidu, M K Stalin or Deve Gowda. KCR's ability to communicate well in Hindi could make him more acceptable and noticeable nationally.
4. Domestic compulsions: On the domestic turf, KCR will be fighting two terms of anti-incumbency; India's youngest state votes next in 2023. In 2018, he advanced state elections by a few months and managed to improve his party score to 88 (out of 117). The Congress so far was the main Opposition in Telangana, but the BJP has gained a foothold and is aggressively trying to grow. So he needs to keep the BJP in check which is why the party and the PM are now his target.
5. 'The underprivileged need me': The Chief Minister used his post-Budget press conference to project the BJP as a party that does not care for backward castes, farmers or the poor. He shared figures of allocations made by the Centre and compared them to allocations made by his own government to suggest he's the real champion of the disadvantaged.
6. Imitation best form of flattery? KCR often likes to point out that schemes introduced by him like Rythu Bandhu (Direct investment support that gives every land-owning farmer Rs 8,000 per acre every year), Mission Bhagiratha (a tap in every home to supply water), Aarogyasri (health insurance) have been copied by the Centre in the form of Kisan Samman, Jal Jeevan and Ayushman Bharat, but adds that his own schemes are better in scope and reach.
7. Secure on home front: KCR is undeniably the tallest political leader in Telangana. Within his TRS party, he is the undisputed leader and there is no major internal crisis. There is a clear succession plan with son KT Rama Rao emerging as a tech-savvy leader who has impressed the new generation. That leaves KCR free to look beyond his home turf and play a national role.
8. Ignore Local, go National: Locally, KCR is facing an aggressive state BJP leadership that targets him on multiple issues like what farmers are paid for food grain, not enough jobs for the youth, alleged family rule and concentration of power, alleged corruption. But he doesn't want to raise the profile of these leaders who are largely local, by being seen reacting to their allegations, so he prefers to target PM Modi, whose popularity could also cost him votes in the election.
9. Farmer anger: With a bumper harvest in Telangana, affording procurement was becoming a challenge for the Telangana government. BJP leaders blamed KCR for asking farmers not to grow paddy in rabi (to mitigate the excess supply) but KCR blamed the Centre for refusing to buy the paddy. He organised a maha-dharna of farmers in Hyderabad a day before the farm laws were withdrawn in Delhi, and declared himself the political voice of farmers in the country.
10. Road less travelled: KCR's attempts to stitch together a non-BJP, non-Congress front failed before the 2019 election. But KCR is not giving up. He has already met leaders like MK Stalin, Tejashwi Yadav, Pinarayi Vijayan and Left leaders, and is planning to meet Uddhav Thackeray soon. He knows it will be challenging to come together for a Common Minimum Program, but believes that the anger among non-BJP states over decaying federalism and real fear of BJP expanding its foothold, provides them with enough grounds for unity.
11. India for all: While never shying away from displaying his attachment for Hindu rituals, KCR is also scathing about the alleged divisive politics of the BJP and says the youth must come together for a better India because "no one goes to Afghanistan to invest". They come to places like Telangana that have a congenial environment, he insists, pointing to the state's progressive industrial policy, atmosphere of communal amity and peace here that are bringing in capital investment.
12. Motivating the youth: KCR insists India will 'react' at the right time, like it did during the Emergency, and says his long-running campaign for statehood for Telangana was powered by public support and participation, and that he had motivated the youth, firing them with the need for revolution, and that is how Telangana was born even though many were dismissive and mocking of his efforts.
13. KCR has had a long innings in public life: He started with the Congress, was a founder-member of the Telugu Desam along with NTR (they quickly formed the government), he is senior to main rival Chandrababu Naidu, served as a state minister two times in Andhra Pradesh. He then founded his own party and led the agitation that gave birth to India's youngest state. He has been a Union minister in the UPA (2004-2006) and has a good personal equation with key Opposition leaders like Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shibu Soren and Lalu Yadav. KCR has the skill of networking and lobbying, essential to his aspirations of an all-India role.
(Uma Sudhir is Executive Editor, NDTV)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.