BRS: KCR to unveil his own story as road map for India's success

HYDERABAD: After a protracted and chequered struggle, which seemed to have begun as stoking rebellion against the ruling dispensation of the day in 2001 that transformed into a mega agitation, the lone crusader cleared his throat and began reading out: "Kalvakunta Chandrashekar Rao ane nenu…" on June 2, 2014.

This very utterance of his name soared the enthusiasm and the nerve-wracking suspense among people about the formation of a new State. And they began to feel the ecstasy as he went on to read: "Telangana rashtra mukhyamantri gaa…" (as the Chief Minister of the State of Telangana).

The pulsating occasion can, in retrospect, be described as the watershed moment for a State that began its journey as the startup State of India. And, winning the people's confidence for a renewed term, KCR was sworn in the Chief Minister for a second time on December 13, 2018. Four years are done. Now he is raring to go for a third term in Telangana.

This time, it's going to be a different ballgame. In 2023, KCR will be entering the electoral fray as an evolved national leader and an astute politician with nine-plus years of experience as an able administrator. His poll plank will be the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), a political formation he is trying to build brick by brick – an entity metamorphosed from the strongly-rooted regional party, Telangana Rahstra Samithi.

What are his claims? The effective implementation of various development and welfare schemes he has launched will be the basis for presenting Telangana as a successful startup.

When he built Pragathi Bhavan, his detractors lashed their tongues alleging that he had built a fortress for living and nothing else. Eight years on, he is almost pulling up his socks to enter the magnificent new secretariat complex, the seat of power of administration of the State of Telangana. KCR has too many things to flaunt about his performance. The sheer magnitude (world's largest) of Kaleshwaram multipurpose lift irrigation project has perched Telangana a cut above the rest.

Hyderabad Metro Rail, its upcoming extension to airport, the formation of 23 new districts, integrated district collectorate complexes in every district, 33 medical colleges, drinking water connectivity to every household in the State through Mission Bhagiratha, rejuvenation of groundwater table through Mission Kakatiya, 24-hour uninterrupted power supply to all sectors, numerous flyovers, underpasses, attracting huge investments in manufacturing and IT, widespread healthcare facilities – from primary to tertiary, welfare activities like Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Beema, Dalit Bandhu, Kalyanalaskhmi, KCR Kits, Asara pensions, and the list is endless.

Economic activity has made the entire country look up to the State in awe. Telangana achieved 130 per cent growth in per capita income (Rs.1,12,162 in FY14 to Rs.2,75,443 in FY22), 230 percent growth in IT exports, 190 percent growth in food grains production, etc are just a few

The exponential growth of GSDP from Rs.4,51,580 crore in FY14 to Rs. 11,48,114 crore in FY22 is a glaring example of the growth.

The investments attracted by Telangana from marquee companies like Apple, Google, Uber, Amazon, Salesforce, Micron and Qualcomm have set up their second largest campuses outside the US in Hyderabad.

Rebuilding of Yadadri temple, setting up of Police Command Control Centre, world's largest innovation campus, T-Hub and the enhancement of green cover in the State on a mission mode would all be showcased by him for seeking votes.

Now, KCR wants to highlight the successful Telangana model to draw the eyeballs from across the nation and position the BRS. Instead of choosing the typical path of bitter criticism, KCR has broadly laid out a roadmap for his national foray, highlighting what the country lacked, what it needed and what the BRS would do. He is having teams of intellectuals to study and prepare blueprints for every sector for making an agenda of "qualitative change" for the entire nation.

Without losing sight of the core of India, an agricultural nation, KCR wants to address the majority occupation (40 per cent of India's population is engaged in agriculture) with a slogan: "Ab ki baar, Kisan Sarkar."

K Chandrashekar Rao is going to inaugurate the BRS party office in New Delhi on Wednesday, December 14, 2022.