KCR’S Gambit to appropriate Narasimha Rao’s legacy

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is trying to resurrect former prime minister late P V Narasimha Rao from oblivion. He not only commemorated his birth centenary but also got the Telangana legislature to adopt a resolution requesting the Centre to confer the Bharat Ratna—India’s highest civilian award—on him, not only for his yeoman service to the nation but also his scholarly contributions in various fields, especially literature. The wave of economic liberalisation began blowing during Rao’s watch as PM, KCR pointed out. 

When KCR eulogised India’s first prime minister from the South as a true son of Telangana, though Rao never saw himself that way, there was initial surprise. For, Rao was not influenced by the spirit of the Telangana movement in a big way in the 1960s. Yet, KCR organised the centenary celebrations, though the central leadership of the Congress, the party he belonged to, has no such intentions.

Apart from the local unit of the Congress, which remembered him perfunctorily, Rao is a forgotten chapter in the party’s otherwise rich history. In fact, he was totally shunned by the Congress led by Sonia Gandhi after he demitted the office of the PM following the party’s rout in the 1996 general elections. He was even denied a memorial in Delhi after his death in December 2004, and his funeral in Hyderabad was performed shabbily.

So why is KCR suddenly showering his love and affection on Rao? The chances are it could be strategic. As the Congress is the opposition party in the state, he likely wants to obliterate it by staking a claim to Rao’s legacy besides perhaps wanting to get approbation that he respects scholars of Telangana. Wiping out the opponent has always been at the core of his political strategy.

He uprooted the TDP from Telangana soil after the cash-for-votes scam and has already pushed the Congress to the fringes. Interestingly, KCR’s plan is grist for the BJP’s mill, as the latter wants the Congress buried in a hole deeper than the Mariana trench. But since Bharat Ratnas are awarded solely on the recommendation of the prime minister, much will depend on where the former PM figures in Modi’s pecking order.