What is the message of the Telangana people in the results?
The election results are quite surprising to the political pundits, who toured various places during the campaign. No voter complained against the government welfare schemes and their implementation. They took exception to various aspects of the BRS government including Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s (KCR) prolonged stay at the farm house, not attending the Secretariat, not allowing the people to meet their CM to ventilate their problems.
What is missing in the BRS government? A government teacher N Bhaskar Rao in Khammam said, “The people felt there is ‘no democracy’ in KCR’s rule. Many of the Buddhi Jeevulu (wisemen in rural and urban areas) decided to vote out the BRS government from power for this reason. It reflects in the results.” Basically, the people of Telangana used to love freedom and they were annoyed with the BRS government’s decision to ‘house-arrest’ opposition leaders when they called for a dharna or tried to visit the projects. They also opposed the encouragement of defections by the BRS from opposition parties. Controlling media by the BRS bosses by all means to cover up their corruption and arrogant practices noticed by these Buddi Jeevulu who voted against the BRS government. They (literates) relied on social media for the news against the BRS government and they believed them even though many of them were far from truth. This section of people have travelled miles and miles by standing in the buses and cast their votes against the TRS regime. The Prime Post reporter took part in the discussion by the voters in a bus going to Khammam from Hyderabad. The focus of commuters on the polling day was on the arrogant behaviour of KCR. Seven members out of ten in the bus, most of the literates, openly said that they decided to vote against KCR. They listed out the lapses on the part of KCR including not-attending to the Secretariat and spending most of his time in Erravalli farmhouse and Pragathi Bhavan. N Srinivas, an RTC employee, said, “The beneficiaries were in favor of KCR and we are expecting at least 60 seats to Congress to end BRS rule in the state”. Being the Chief Minister, KCR’s defeat in Kamareddy can be attributed to his arrogance. (eom)