Why KCR will not go for an early poll?

HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrashekar Rao has the habit of raising the bar always. He keeps changing the goal post farther, after every win or loss. He wants all his party men to achieve the goals. Munugode by-election was one such goalpost. Reaching it was the goal set by KCR though the election was not caused by the TRS.

In fact, by-election of the ilk of the one that's thrust on Munugode must be avoided and there must be a constitutional provision for the same. The lawmakers, jurists, judiciary, intellectuals and thinkers must consider this idea so seriously.

There is a reason. It's a mere waste of time, money, man-hours, resources and a halt of governance. The election is caused to test the political muscle and, of course, money power. It was totally uncalled for. The entire machinery of the State administration had to lay focus on this. Politically, the rank and file of all parties would take the election so much seriously, especially when the tempers are frayed and scores to settle are too high and points to prove are too many.

Charges, counter-charges and digging of the past become the order of the day. Resigning from an elected position to seek popular mandate for the sake of securing endorsement to a proposed change in political positioning by any leader is absolutely okay. However, it should not be an isolated incident only with a view to demonstrating someone's upper hand. The by-elections to Huzurabad and Munugode Assembly seats fall in this category.

In fact, KCR also, at one point in time, depended on by-elections and often resigned and created situations where by-elections had become the only way.

However, KCR's resignations to the posts of Deputy Speaker, Union Minister, MP at different times and those of his colleague legislators and MPs always had a reason. He espoused the cause of a separate statehood for Telangana and he strived hard for the same. In the process and run up to achieve his goal and realise the decades-long dream of millions of people, causing by-elections was used as an instrument in the democratic process to highlight the aspirations and draw the attention of all stakeholders to the core of the demand. The advantages and pitfalls had well been factored in too.

As the saying goes in Hindi that 'sabar ka phal meetha hotha hai" – it roughly translates into ' the fruit of patience is sweet – the risk paid off in the form of a great reward. Thus, it was just for the Shakespearean maxim of 'all is well that ends well'.

However, KCR has never thrusted an election after realising the state.

Stable governance has become his thumb rule for ensuring the development and welfare of all sections.

He had had the Assembly elections advanced by six months as part of a political gambit and sought a renewed term for his government's performance. People indeed rallied behind him.

KCR may not rush to elections by having the Assembly dissolved. And there are many reasons to believe this stand, as opposed to the expectation of many an analyst and politicians that he would prefer an early poll.

KCR is a deft politician. He has the ability to correct his course if he feels it's necessary. And, he's adept at assessing the pros and cons of any situation.

KCR, after opening up his idea for the launch of a national alternative for close to five years now and after due process of consultation with many, has finally chosen to launch the same and announced the name of Bharat Rashtra Samithi. He set the ball rolling for commencing the procedure to upgrade the TRS into BRS.

At a time when he will be required to travel across India, he needs the mandatory state protocol. Also, he announced that he would run national politics with Hyderabad as his base.

He has embarked on a mission to build a new secretariat, pulling down the age-old one and crossing numerous legal hurdles. It's anybody's guess that the architect of the new governance model would want to be the first one to deliver the fruits of his administration from the new magnificent building. It's likely to be ready by the onset of the new year.

No single victory in a by-election can be seen in isolation as a sign of victory or defeat of a larger election that ensues. One seat - per se, Munugode - is not a grain or a morsel to check whether the entire rice is cooked. It's absurd, if not risible, to say he would cling on to his seat until the last minute just because the TRS lost in Huzurabad or call for an early election if the party won Munugode.

In fact, working president of the TRS K T Rama Rao repeatedly referred to the Nandyal by-election and asserted that no by-election was a benchmark or a sign of the next result.

KCR has tasked himself with many projects and schemes and follows up their progress minutely to their last detail. He completed a lot of them, fulfilled many promises too but kept on adding many more to his list of accomplishments for Telangana. He believes that governance and his politics are a WIP (work in progress).

Typical of an unrelenting person that he is, KCR cannot afford to lose the credit of becoming the longest serving Chief Minister in Hyderabad. This record, hitherto held by N Chandrababu Naidu, will be automatically and effortlessly broken by KCR on March 14, 2023. Why will anyone deny himself of such a rare honour?

Considering all these pertinent factors, KCR may not opt for an early poll by seeking dissolution of the Assembly.