The BJP-TRS bonhomie can lead to mutual benefits

The signals of rapprochement first emerged during the no-confidence debate in this session of Parliament. Among the few leaders who Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated during his speech was the Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) reciprocated by abstaining from the vote. This helped the government defeat the motion by an even bigger margin. The TRS offered a political argument — since the motion revolved around special status for Andhra Pradesh, Telangana had no stakes. But in politics, unstated motivations often are more important than stated explanations. The speculation about warmth in ties grew last weekend, when Mr Rao met Mr Modi in Delhi. The stated explanation was that the discussion revolved around official projects and central assistance for the state. But informed observers pointed out that many items on the official agenda had already been discussed between the central and state governments. There was a clear political subtext to the discussion leading up to the general elections in 2019.

Within a few days, another signal has emerged. For the election of the post of the Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson, the TRS has decided to support the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate, Harivansh. TRS MPs have suggested that this is primarily because of the close relationship between Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar and Mr Rao. Mr Harivansh is an MP from JD(U). This could well be one reason, but politics does not operate on personal links alone. The fact is that the TRS is explicitly backing a government candidate in an important election in the Rajya Sabha.

What does all this mean? It would be inaccurate to think of this as a precursor to any immediate alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the TRS. The TRS’s primary challenger in Telangana remains the Congress. Mr Rao’s party also relies on a substantial element of Muslim votes in the state. An open tie-up with the BJP does not suit him. While it would like to grow, the BJP, too, knows that it does not really have a chance to become a formidable or dominant player in the state. The fact that they are not direct competitors has thus allowed them to open channels of communication and doors for a post-poll tie-up in 2019. The BJP knows that if replicating its 2014 performance in the Lok Sabha becomes difficult, it will need such smaller outfits. The TRS knows that having a a friendly Centre would be useful for its developmental programmes. It also does not harm them if an aggressive BJP grows — if only slightly — at the cost of the Congress in the state. It is these calculations which appear to be bringing the two parties closer in the run-up to 2019.

First Published: Aug 08, 2018 18:25 IST