Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao popularly known as KCR has proved himself a powerful regional leader of the newly carved Telangana state by successively romping back to power for the second tenure as well. A founder of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the regional political outfit floated by the strategist KCR continues to dominate the young state drubbing all other so called national parties at bay to the seat of power.
A self made leader: Many a political commentator in fact had pooh-poohed the stance of KCR, when he quit from the ruling Telugu Desam party and stepping down from the position of Deputy Speaker of the undivided Andhra Pradesh Assembly with the dream of forming a separate Telangana state. Some of his political adversaries even went to the extent of predicting his political fortunes as well. However, true to his typical characteristic of a self made leader, KCR stood committed to his goal until it was ensured.
Telangana devoid of opposition! Thanks to his pragmatic approach of all-round development of the state, the second innings almost turned out to be a cake walk for KCR. For name sake 22 MLAs’ represented the Indian National Congress (INC) in the second general elections to the Telangana Assembly, while half of them walked down into the ruling TRS without any hassles, forget quitting their MLA positions. Now, if at all you wish to call a party worth opposition it’s only 12 MLAs’ of the Congress and three from the BJP.
Hyderabad devoid of communal riots: As The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) happens to be an alliance partner of the TRS, the capital city of Hyderabad which was notoriously known for frequent communal riots is now devoid of the past scars. MIM also happens to be the second largest party in the state Assembly and Council.
A series of trump cards to boast of: Although Telangana continues to compete with the neighboring Andhra Pradesh in terms of borrowing, repayment of interest, loans and GDP there cannot be two opinions about the achievements it boasts of. Rain water harvesting has been made mandatory and there is no escape for citizens other than being penalized for not adhering to the statutory regulation. Likewise power supply 24x7 to the whole state by and large is a reality. Rejuvenation of lakes across the state has not just led to a better water sufficient position but has guaranteed water storage for the next five years! Such luxury of water conditions has also led to the doubling of agriculture production.
ICCC becomes a benchmark: The Integrated Command and Control Centre with an estimated investment of around Rs 600 crores of the Telangana state police has evolved into a benchmark for better policing of the state’s law and order. The ICCC was conceptualized as part of modernization of the police force after the state came into being. The 6.42 lakh square feet infrastructure consist of five towers while towers A and B are of 15 and 20 floors.
GST continues to remain a pain: Perhaps it goes to the credit of K Chandrasekhar Rao in raising a voice on the states right in the due share of GST. He was equivocal in staunchly opposing levying GST on food items and to products related to the poor. He has also been repeatedly warning against FRBM limit cut mid-way, thereby ending up of the states limp financially.
Opposition to changes in NREGS: He has also accused the Centre of diluting the NREGS too by bringing in changes in its implementation such as marking biometric attendance twice a day and others. Its impact was so high that wage seekers under the scheme from about 15 States went to Delhi recently and staged a protest against the changes. He alleged that the Centre had assured to link NREGS to agriculture initially but went back on it later.
Resentment to changing provisions midway: On the State’s borrowing limit under the Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, the Chief Minister has accused the Centre of changing the provisions mid-way of a financial year after the borrowing limit was fixed by it and budget was approved by the State legislature. He stated that after fixing the limit at ₹54,000 crore for 2022-23, the Centre had pruned it to ₹29,000 crore and relaxed ₹10,000 crore after the State Government spoke about taking legal recourse.
Perusal for reminder keeps continuing: The State Government was still pursuing with the Centre to restore the remaining ₹15,000 crore borrowing limit to allow it to carry on the plans for the State’s progress. “The FRBM limit cut mid-way will make States limp financially”, he feels. He criticizes the Centre for talking against freebies such as Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, Aasara social security pensions, free power to agriculture and others stating that providing some stability to the lives of those covered under them would contribute to economic growth. Why waiving loans for corporate? He blasts the Centre on the spree of writing off loans of corporate by declaring them non-performing assets (NPAs) which were at ₹58,000 crore in ¯2004-04, ₹2.63 lakh crore in 2013-14 and ₹20.07 lakh crore now!
-Manohar Yadavatti
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