Narendra Modi in Telangana & a political milestone

It was a simple official tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Telangana State, which eventually got transformed into a phenomenal political milestone for both the ruling TRS government and the Telangana BJP.

There are several firsts in this tour of PM Modi. It was Prime Minister’s first visit to Telangana State since its formation on June 2, 2014. It is for the first time publicly PM Narendra Modi shared dais with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. It’s for the first time CM KCR made positive comments about PM Modi and BJP-led NDA government in public.

It is for the first time, CM KCR gave a full-length speech in Hindi at a State government programme. It’s also for the first time that Narendra Modi addressed BJP workers in Hyderabad, as Prime Minister. It is the first time that Dr Laxman shared dais with PM Modi as the president of BJP Telangana State.

With so many firsts, the 5-hour tour of PM Modi was very eventful and quite productive. Eventful, as both the State government for the official programme and the BJP for the party meeting pulled no stops to ensure that both events were heavily attended & stupendously successful.

It was productive as PM Modi could connect to the masses of Telangana for the first time, as someone who can stand up for development of the new State of Telangana. His assurance that the Central government would do everything possible to support the State government in their developmental initiatives would remain for long in the hearts and minds of Telangana people.

It was also productive as PM Modi’s much envisioned ‘Cooperative Federalism’ initiative yielded real-time outcomes with a non-BJP State government, showcasing visibly and publicly their urge to work with the Central government, keeping aside the political differences, in the interest of the State.

On the political front, Modi’s visit turned out to be a critical political milestone for both BJP and TRS. For BJP it’s a huge morale booster, as it will drive the booth-level workers to focus on Modi’s ‘Future of Telangana’ vision statement, which he stated in only few words. It was a call for the workers to brace up for 2019 elections, in not so obvious way.

It has surely provided the much-needed inspiration to the party cadre, to get their act together and focus on accomplishing the herculean task of forming the BJP government in Telangana State. PM Modi’s visit works as a booster shot to Dr Laxman, the State BJP president and his team, to review Telangana BJP’s political goals and draw up an action plan for the next three years. Re-engineering, redirecting and resetting ambitious goals to win 2019 elections will be the prime agenda for the party locally.

PM Modi’s, “I see the future of Telangana here” statement will continue to ring in the ears of the state leadership for a long time to come. For TRS, it’s a new path of political reconciliation. At least for now, the Government of Telangana seems to have realised that it cannot survive by acting in pointless contempt against the Modi government, It’s a lose-lose scenario.

While BJP and TRS can never be electoral allies, keeping in view their distinctly different vote-banks, ideological leanings and voter compositions, government-to-government co-operation can do a lot of good to the State of Telangana. It can also be, if guided well, a shot in the arm even politically for TRS in the State. If the party cannot deliver development, it cannot seek votes again from the same voters.

From calling Prime Minister Modi a fascist to eulogising Modi government as the only corruption-free government this country has ever seen, the CM KCR walked the long green mile, since his two years in office. It is a critical political milestone for the AIMIM-leaning TRS party to showcase their independent pro-development ideology by inching towards BJP’s developmental plank, at least at the government level. In conclusion, all are winners in this well-timed and a vital official tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Writer is a spokesperson of BJP, an organisation strategist and an author)

By Krishna Saagar Rao