Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao rebranded his party Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) as Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) earlier this month in the most public display of his national ambitions so far.
The rebranding of the party was accompanied by party cadre hailing KCR, as Rao is popularly called, as a national leader.
Amid “Desh ka neta KCR (KCR, the national leader)” chants by party cadres, slogans such as “Dear India, he is coming” and “KCR is on the way” were raised in Telangana.
The rebranding exercise was carried out in the presence of Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader HD Kumaraswamy and Tamil Nadu's Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan and was welcomed by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen of Asaduddin Owaisi, according to PTI.
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Several other developments, such as a string of meetings with Opposition leaders and statements, suggest his ambitions at a bigger role in national politics. Here is the timeline of such developments:
December 2021: KCR meets MK Stalin
KCR met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in December 2021. It was the first of many meetings with non-BJP leaders across the country.
Deccan Herald at the time reported that the meeting was significant “in the wake of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee taking the lead in ‘uniting’ the Opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls”.
While the meeting was formally described as a courtesy call, the paper reported the meeting as being “significant” in light of calls for “greater unity” of the Opposition.
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January 9: KCR meets Communist leaders
KCR in January met leaders of the two leading Communist parties – CPI and CPM. Both the parties called for a “BJP-free India” in their meetings.
Crucially, the meeting came in the run-up to elections in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur.
The participants of the meeting called for an alternate national Opposition as Congress, according to them, was not in a position to lead a national Opposition.
Telangana Today reported, “Both the Left parties were of the view that there was a dire need for the emergence of an alternate leadership at the national level as the Congress had utterly failed to lead the Opposition and evict the BJP from the Centre.”
January 11: KCR meets Tejashwi Yadav
KCR met Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) scion Tejashwi Yadav on January 11. Sources in the TRS, as the party was then known, were reported at the time as saying that KCR requested for RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav to return to active politics.
The rhetoric for Opposition unity was also repeated in the meeting.
“Sources in TRS said both Tejashwi and KCR felt there was an urgent need for parties with similar ideologies to join hands and put up a united fight against the BJP. They spoke about the need to hammer out a detailed action plan,” reported The Times of India.
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February: KCR meets Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar
KCR on February 20 met the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra's ruling coalition’s fellow leader and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.
Uddhav was running Maharashtra at the time with the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, also comprising Congress and NCP.
KCR in his meetings called for a “big change” in the way the country was being run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and condemned the alleged misuse of investigative agencies.
March: KCR meets Hemant Soren, Shibu Soren
KCR on March 4 met Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) patriarch Shibu Soren.
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Notably, KCR denied that he was forming any “front” against either the BJP or the Congress.
“Some people say I am forming an anti-BJP or anti-Congress front. Some others say third front, fourth front. This is not an anti-BJP or anti-Congress front, no front has been formed so far, but what will be made, you will see in the coming days,” said KCR.
Like Maharashtra, KCR repeated his call for a “new direction” for India.
ANI reported KCR as saying that efforts have begun for the unification of like-minded leaders.
May 21: KCR meets Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav
KCR on May 21 met former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal.
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Kejriwal and KCR also visited a mohalla clinic and a school in Delhi.
“KCR has been attempting to forge an anti-BJP alliance (third front) with all the like-minded parties excluding Congress,” reported India Today following the visit.
May 26: KCR meets HD Deve Gowda
In his meeting with Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, KCR repeated his call for a change at the national level and dropped hints for his foray into national politics.
“I assure you, there is going to be a change at the national level. No one can stop it. You will get sensational news after two or three months. India will change and will have to change,” said KCR at the time.
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The Hindu at time reported that the “sensational news” could be the announcement on an alternative political formation to both the Congress and the BJP.
July 29: KCR meets Akhilesh Yadav
In their second meeting within months, KCR on July 29 met SP leader Akhilesh Yadav.
The meeting came amid reports that KCR was actively seeking a non-BJP political front and was seeking support of regional leaders opposed to the BJP.
Summing KCR’s efforts, NDTV reported, “KCR has recently been reaching out to like-minded parties to coordinate and intensify attacks on the Centre ‘to safeguard the democratic values’. He has also stepped up his attack on the BJP and PM Modi. He recently called PM Modi the ‘weakest PM the country has ever had’ and said there is an ‘undeclared emergency’ in the country.”
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August 31: KCR meets Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav
The meeting between KCR and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on August 31, shortly after Kumar ditched the BJP to join the RJD-led bloc, was very curious as he gave the clearest signs yet of his political ambitions.
In a press conference with Nitish, KCR repeatedly snubbed Kumar’s candidature as an Opposition’s prime ministerial candidate. At repeated questions from the press, Nitish got up from his chair and repeatedly asked KCR to leave too, but KCR kept sitting and fielding questions by the press.
When asked if KCR would propose Nitish’s name as PM candidate, KCR replied, “Who am I to do so? If I say it, there will be opposition to it. Why are you rushing on the subject?”
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On the question of Rahul Gandhi being PM candidate, Nitish said “Why are you asking such questions?” and got up for the second time but KCR kept sitting and said, “I have made it clear…We will make all possible efforts to bring together all parties opposing BJP.”
September 3: KCR meets Communist leaders
KCR on September 3 met Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders and the Left leaders extended him support in the fight against “communal forces”.
Siasat reported, “The discussion assumes importance in light of the CPM’s decision to back the TRS in the approaching elections in the Munugode constituency. KCR asked like-minded political and intellectual forces to join forces with the TRS to prevent malicious attempts to damage the state’s democratic secular fabric and create a communal division between people with selfish political purposes.”
