KCR, master at gaining from any situation

Comparisons are useful when one wants to arrive at a broader picture of a political leader. Though not in all respects, political observers are tempted to compare K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), chief of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti(TRS), with his political foe, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Both are being viewed as equals in terms of their survival strategies and political genius. Both stand out from the rest of their political ilk in creating history.

Since its early days, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has faced a number of individual and organised rebellions against its leadership.

The first rebellion led by Nadendla Bhaskar Rao who dethroned the then chief minister NT Rama Rao, had lasted only a month.

In the mid-term elections that followed in 1985, Rama Rao returned to power with flying colours. Bhaskar Rao ended up joining the Congress.

Nearly 10 years after the first coup and just eight months after the 1994 Assembly elections, came the second organised rebellion, this time under the leadership Rama Rao's own son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu.

Naidu dethroned Rama Rao and became the chief minister. After coming back to power in the 1999 Assembly elections he has now emerged as the longest surviving chief minister of the state. Of course, Rama Rao passed away in the intervening period and was not there during the 1999 elections.

Though the legacy of individual rebellions continued after Naidu took over the reigns of power, it became very difficult for his detractors to survive the aftermath.

But when KCR chose to resign from the post of deputy speaker of the Assembly in 2001 to launch the TRS, it was different. Within months of launching the party he had made inroads into the Congress and the TDP bastions in the local body elections.

He not only survived the power of Naidu but also challenged his reign, which is now very much at stake in the ensuing elections on account of the TRS in the Telangana region.

Knowing well the mind and methods of Naidu, as he was once close to the TDP political mastermind in dealing with crises, KCR has become a hard nut to crack even for Naidu.

Both are being seen as masters in taking advantage of any situation that arises. Seeing their shrew dness, some political analysts even go to the extent of calling both leaders as two faces of the same coin.

KCR is the only leader to have evoked passions among Telangana people for a separate state 30 years after the late N Chenna Reddy spearheaded the movement under the banner of Telangana Praja Samiti (TPS) during 1969-70.

Prior to KCR several leaders who fell out or were overlooked by both the Congress and the TDP tried to use the Telangana issue to resurrect themselves but were ignored.

The formation of TRS is also being interpreted as the emergence of a third force to fill the political vacuum in the Telangana region, which takes advantage of the regional sentiments.

The TDP sees the revival of the Telangana demand as a conspiracy to unseat the TDP from power after all other attempts by the political opposition failed to yield results.