KCR’s call for a political front as an alternative to NDA, UPA and the expulsion of two Congress MLAs keep State in national news

The nascent State of Telangana has bagged national attention in the last fortnight for two different reasons. The first was due to a call given by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for formation of a political front at the national level as an alternative to the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The second was on account of expulsion of two Congress members from the Legislative Assembly and suspension of all other members of the party from the House for the entire Budget session that is being held at present.

Though the timing of the proposal for an alternative front had caught many a political observer by surprise, TRS sources stated that it was a well thought out initiative by KCR , as Mr. Rao is popularly referred to. KCR’s contention is that there is no difference between the BJP and Congress and people have not seen any qualitative change in the last 70 years, when either of the two parties were in power at the Centre.

Of late, the Chief Minister, who supported the Centre’s demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax initiatives earlier, has been quite critical about the NDA government. He feels agriculture and farmers’ issues were being neglected in the country and States should be given more powers to decide about various aspects, including reservations. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman took objection to KCR’s usage of words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a recent public meeting while criticising the Centre’s policies. While his son K.T. Rama Rao reportedly explained it was slip of the tongue, KCR denied using any objectionable words stating that “Mr. Modi is my best friend”.

KCR’s proposal for an alternative to the two national parties was stated to have been supported by his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Benerjee and and former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren besides All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi.

Emboldened by their support, KCR has chalked out a plan to garner support for his proposal at the national level. He had also requested experts in various fields and senior officials to study the existing laws, policies and systems and suggest reforms. However, a few days later Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president called on Congress president Rahul Gandhi and both had reportedly agreed for building a united opposition in the tribal State during 2019 elections.

This apart, on March 13, leaders of 20 political parties have attended a dinner hosted by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her residence in an attempt to forge Opposition unity. Leaders of NCP TMC, DMK, RJD, SP, CPI(M) and CPI among others, attended the dinner.

Nevertheless, even before questions have cropped up regarding who will join a front that is bereft of the BJP and Congress in the current circumstances, KCR had clarified that he was not proposing a third front as termed by some people. Stating that he was not trying to bring together small parties, KCR told the Telangana Legislative Assembly that he would be uniting the masses of India. But how he is going to do that is anybody’s guess at present.

On the other hand, unruly scenes were witnessed in the House during the Governor’s address to the joint session of the State legislature on March 12 leading to an unprecedented action by the Assembly Speaker the next day.

Two Congress legislators — Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and S.A. Sampath Kumar — were expelled from the House for hurling earphones at the podium and injuring Council Chairman Swamy Goud in the process. All other Congress members were suspended for the entire Budget session.

After the House passed a resolution expelling the two Congress members, the Legislative Assembly issued gazette notifying the vacancies for two constituencies, Nalgonda and Alampur, the same evening. The gazette was reported to have been forwarded to the Election Commission of India on the same day. Following this, the Congress members approached the Hyderabad High Court challenging their expulsion. They also submitted a representation to the Election Commission of India.

Though expulsion of members from legislatures is not new in India, it is done for the first time in the legislative history of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Justifying the Speaker’s action, KCR asserted that his government would not tolerate any activity that was in violation of the dignity and decorum of the Assembly.