If the grapevine has to be believed, K Vijayarama Rao, former Director of India’s apex probing agency, CBI, will be bidding adieu to the Telugu Desam Party.
What’s ironical is that he will likely join the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Now I would say it was Vijayarama Rao who triggered the very idea of floating the TRS, not by design, but by default. Now, let’s get into the background before we return to the foreground.
N Chandrababu Naidu wasn’t very sure of his fledgling TDP’s victory in 1999. With a view to addressing infirmities, Naidu came up with a two-pronged strategy:
1. He formalised his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and left ample political elbow space for the “senior partner” of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and as part of the quid pro quo arrangement, he knocked off the position of Convenor of NDA. He clearly foresaw a BJP triumph in the ensuing elections, as it was already basking in the afterglow of Kargil war victory.
2. Not to take chances with the weaknesses of his own legislators and their misfortune, for they were testing the waters for the first time after the infamous palace coup in which the legendary NTR was thrown out, Naidu had woven a new political web. This meant Chandrababu Naidu was fighting his first ever election for the TDP as its general. Therefore, he wanted to mix politics with “civilian” leaders in the garb of some loosely-built concept called ‘Praja Deevena. As part of this, he invited socially reputable persons with great standing to contest the elections on behalf of the TDP.
CBI Director Vijayarama Rao, Gynaecologist Sankkayala Aruna, Journalist Kaluva Srinivasulu, Tobacco baron Y V Rao, and the likes came in and fought elections and won the seats. The list is long.
Now the prognosis of Vijayarama Rao becoming instrument in the formation of the TRS.
KCR or Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao, the Chief Minister of Telangana, was a staunch loyalist of Chandrababu Naidu. KCR was party to the palace coup in dethroning NTR in 1995. KCR is deft and knowledgeable and also articulate in expression.
Precisely for this reason, Naidu has kept him at bay. KCR may have been part of Naidu’s Cabinet in the first stint. Yet, Naidu, who is famous (or notorious) for playing his cards close to his chest, never trusted KCR.
After a victory of the TDP in 1999 Assembly elections, Naidu grew overconfident. His experiment worked wonders. His choice of fielding K Vijayarama Rao to take on Congress strongman and Leader of the Opposition P Janardhan Reddy from Khairatabad Assembly seat yielded a surprise result. With no political acumen and no knowledge of political machinations, KVR could inflict a crushing defeat on PJR. He emerged as a giant killer. So, Naidu had to suitably reward the senior most IPS officer in the country, who just then demitted the coveted position of CBI chief.
The caste equations came in handy for the TDP supremo. He conveniently dumped KCR and preferred Vijayarama Rao. But an impudent KCR, who was parked in the seat of a Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly, couldn’t take the insult kindly.
Chandrababu Naidu accommodated KVR in the Cabinet and KCR, outside. Unable to swallow the humiliation even grudgingly, KCR did his spade work and then walked out of the TDP to float the TRS. Never did Chandrababu Naidu expect KCR to meticulously build an agitation that would kick him out of Hyderabad permanently.
But KCR did it. And, the rest is history. Now, if Vijayarama Rao of Karimnagar district switches his allegiance to the TRS, it will be anti-climax for the the polity. It becomes a defining moment or it redefines the political relations.
