Nistula Hebbar: Minister in search of a portfolio

BACKSTAGE

K Chandrashekhara Rao

K Chandrashekhara Rao, leader of the Telengana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and minister without portfolio in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet, has willy-nilly become a symbol of the compulsions of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

That Rao, a four-time MLA, former deputy speaker in the Andhra Assembly and a well-read man, has not managed to find work in the new government says a lot about the current state of affairs.

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the honeymoon between the Congress and the TRS, especially in Andhra Pradesh (where together they managed to dislodge N Chandrababu Naidu), appears to be over.

Not only are Rao's supporters upset that he has not been given a portfolio, the Congress's flip-flop attitude towards the establishment of a separate Telengana state is spelling doom for the once warm relationship.

Last week, Rao's no-show at Manmohan Singh's iftaar party has made the government sit up and take notice of the quiet but fiery Andhra leader.

Rao's journey from being a TDP MLA to its arch foe has its mapping in his gene pool. Belonging to the Vellama (a rich land-owning caste) from the Telengana area of Andhra Pradesh, Rao is typically feudal with all the touchiness and the propensity for grand gestures that go with it.

In 2001, when N Chandrababu Naidu failed to make him a minister in his government in Andhra Pradesh, Rao cited suicides by several farmers in Telengana's Medak, Nizamabad and Warangal districts as a reason to part ways with him.

When the DMK threatened to walk out of the UPA government after the shipping portfolio promised to them was assigned to Rao, he gave up his department, without a murmur, earning the gratitude of the Manmohan Singh government.

He founded the Telengana Rashtra Samiti, dedicated to the carving out of the Telengana state from Andhra Pradesh, in April 2001. An emotive issue, it rested on the contrast offered by the water-rich coastal districts of Andhra to the parched Telengana area, despite the fact that 80 per cent of the Krishna and Godavari rivers flowed through the latter.

The Congress, desperate to get rid of Naidu after sitting in the opposition for 12 years in the state, sent the shrewd Pranab Mukherjee to strike a deal with Rao. Telengana would be granted statehood in return for a seat adjustment arrangement in interior Andhra.

The result saw cyber-Chief Minister Naidu being swept out of power, but began a whole new power game in the state.

The trouble actually started when Rao demanded his pound of flesh, the Telengana state. For that, he gave up his shipping portfolio, hoping that the Congress would remember to return the favour. The Congress tried to mollify Rao by taking in TRS MLAs in the state government as ministers, but Rao was not satisfied.

His war of words with Chief Minister Y S R Reddy and senior Andhra Congress politicians has brought them into adversarial positions. So much so that the Congress appears to be unsure whether even an important portfolio, in all probability industry, will be able to satisfy the Andhra strongman.

This is Rao's second stint in Delhi. As a Congressman in the mid-1970s, Rao was a supporter of Sanjay Gandhi and used to be part of the coterie surrounding him that included his current colleague Jagdish Tytler. Rao changed parties before Gandhi died, in the early 1980s and joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

This time though, he is a leader in his own right after having led a mass movement that translated into unprecedented electoral gains for himself and the Congress. He is dealing with the government as an equal partner in Andhra Pradesh.

The deep suspicion between the two actually stems from the fact that they cater to the same constituency, the farmers and dalits. Perhaps it would be better if Rao were given an important portfolio at the Centre. His work as minister might just stop him from fishing in troubled waters in his home state.