Telangana CM KCR shoots Congress from PV Narasimha Rao's shoulders

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is shooting at Congress from the shoulders of late Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's (PVN) statue and wants to be known as a better Chanakya than the late Prime Minister. The Congress is the second-largest party in Telangana after the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Chandrashekar Rao is employing his bagful of tricks to weaken his opponent party. Now he had put the Congress on defense, using PVN's statue as a backdrop. Does Chandrashekar Rao really have so much respect for PVN? PVN had never supported the idea of a separate Telangana State. In Chandrashekar Rao's six years of rule, he has never paid so much attention to the late Prime Minister.

When PVN took over as the Prime Minister, our country's economy was passing through a very difficult phase and he pushed forward globalisation, privatisation and liberalisation. His government had signed agreements with the World Bank and gave approval to the Dunkel Pact. With the premonition of dark days to come as a result of India's bowing to neo-liberal onslaught, the Communist Party of India (CPI) had given a call for popular protests by raising black flags on all government offices at that time itself. Sedition cases were clamped on 19 CPI cadres, including me and we were imprisoned.

N Chandrababu Naidu was the leader of Opposition in the State Assembly. While passing from Bengaluru to Chittoor, he came to the sub-jail and talked to me. He told me that they had held a protest demonstration and 'rasta roko" and that he declared that, "Narayana is a patriot and is not an enemy of the country. Arresting him and his cadre is unlawful." He also said, "I came to know that someone is saying that one Mr GATT had attacked Narayana. Tell me where is that man, and we will deal with him. Why should you talk about some GATT or Dunkel and why should I come and visit you in this jail?" He was obviously joking. I told him, "You will come to know about the danger of these developments in future."

PV Narasimha Rao, after sensing the uncontrolled developments of liberalisation, commented, "I have only opened the windows. But now I see that all the doors along with windows are open." Though he took over as Prime Minister of a lame-duck government, he could complete his full term of five years, growing stronger, by his Chanakya skills. He was called a 'weak man', but his weakness was his strength. He was never in any group and that might be the reason why he was chosen as the Prime Minister. But after becoming the Prime Minister, he became stronger and he could play a significant role in Indian politics.

He was a walking encyclopedia and talking to him was a s good as studying the whole history of the Congress Party. The late Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh, Dr Rajasekhara Reddy once told me that perhaps his (PVN's) knowledge had made him so important in the Central office of the Congress Party. He sounded sarcastic, but it is a fact. PVN had grown from a person into a political force. Once he attended the "Satavadhanam" of Sri Madugula Naga Phani Sharma as a chief guest. Naga Phani Sharma said, addressing PVN, "The higher you go, the more resilient you are." The famous book of Viswanatha Satyanarayana, "Veyi Padagalu" was translated into Hindi by PVN himself. Being a scholar, he also excelled as a meaningful orator.

Who is capable of organising PVN's Centenary celebrations? PVN's relations with Madam Sonia Gandhi soured while he was the Prime Minister and it continued. May be that was one reason why the Congress Party had shown little interest in the centenary. The State unit of INC is in disarray and often goes into hibernation. Chandrashekar Rao had seized this opportunity and elevated PVN to a position much higher than what is usually given to TRS ideologue Prof Jaya Shankar. Is the newfound love for PVN real? Chandrashekar Rao is an expert at political drama, somewhat comparable to Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy. But the difference is that Rajasekhara Reddy had some personal and political values, which are totally absent in Chandrashekar Rao. For Chandrashekar Rao, strategy is more important than integrity. With the sole aim of striking at the Congress, he is using PVN as a weapon. He had given a call for yearlong centenary celebrations, with a plan to spend huge amounts, with the slogan, "PVN is the pride of Telangana."

He had in fact installed PVN as the symbol of Telangana. And by this, Chandrashekar Rao had put the Congress on defense. So, the strategy is that Chandrashekar Rao will be the beneficiary of any effort to praise PVN by the Congress Party. The TRS is not the only party that had struggled for separate Telangana. The CPI had passed a resolution and also conducted devoted struggles in all districts of Telangana. Finally, Madam Sonia Gandhi had cleared the demand for Telangana, but in the State elections that ensued, it was the TRS which got the benefit. People had sidelined the CPI and other parties. People look at the noise but not the sacrifices. Careless agriculture will not yield crop, other than waste grass. You have to combine hard work and sacrifice with political initiative. If you take a passive role, you always remain in the sidelines.

(The writer is national secretary, the Communist Party of India. Views expressed are personal)