Water wars are not a unique problem in India. Previously states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have slogged over it. However, the fight for the Krishna river water between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has reached a tipping point and it is the newly carved state of Telangana, that came into existence seven years ago, that is playing the regionalism and sub-nationalism card. It is to revive CM K Chandrasekhar Rao’s (KCR) lost legacy, as the BJP continues to be at his tail and vehemently pursues his chair.
When Telangana came into existence the two states agreed to split water share 66:34 on an ad hoc basis until the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal-2 decided the final allocation. However, pursuing an aggressive course of action, the KCR government is now demanding a 50:50 share of the water.
Telangana was carved out in the final year of the UPA’s rule as a last-ditch effort by the failing alliance to resuscitate its fortunes. Naturally, the split was haphazard and unlike other state splits brokered by the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, a host of administrative decisions were left hanging.
To this day, the bilateral issues between the two states arising out of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 has forced them to give each other the side-eye. The massive controversy surrounding the Capital had kept both states on their toes for a long time and now the Krishna river issue is being used as a political ploy by KCR to reap similar gains.
The reason for stoking the regionalism card is simple. KCR anti-incumbency ridden Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) will indirectly benefit from the flare-up in the Huzurabad Assembly by-election. The by-election was necessitated after former TRS Minister Etala Rajender resigned as MLA and joined the BJP.
Etala Rajender was a strong leader of the TRS, and his switching sides to the BJP was a jolt to KCR. Not only this, BJP’s performance in the recent Greater Hyderabad Municipal Elections has blown the air out of leaders like KCR and Owaisi. As reported by TFI, the Saffron party won 48 seats out of 150, four more than 44 of AIMIM, and seven less than 55 won by the TRS.
From the Lok Sabha elections where the BJP won four seats to TRS’s nine, to block-level elections — the performance of the saffron party has rapidly improved, and it has strengthened its position as the biggest rival to TRS. Moreover, the fact that the BJP is actively promoting its Telangana cadre leaders like G Kishan Reddy, who has been elevated to the post of cabinet minister after being an MoS has made KCR and his party sweat.
More representation for the people of Telangana in the cabinet means more people will side with the BJP. Similarly, the voters are beginning to notice that KCR and his governance, pivoting towards the Muslim vote bank is brittle and not built on much substance.
Such is the ugliness between AP and Telangana that Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had to recuse himself from hearing a case between the two parties after his request for mediation was refused.
Even after going all out to appease the minority community, KCR appears to be falling short behind the charging cavalcade of the BJP. As also reported by TFI, such has been the extent of appeasement in the state that while the entire country was battling the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic during April to May, the muslim minority community, which enjoys a high degree of minority appeasement under KCR was seen flouting all Covid norms in Hyderabad – Asaduddin Owaisi’s backyard.
Huge crowds at Hyderabad’s Charminar had gathered for Eid shopping. Tens of thousands were seen milling at the Madina market indiscriminately without wearing any masks and without maintaining any social distancing.
#WATCH | People throng markets near Hyderabad's Charminar area ahead of Eid tomorrow. A 10-day lockdown is in place in Telangana to contain the spread of COVID19 cases pic.twitter.com/LQudIqMpWm
— ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2021
With such blatant appeasement still not rewarding KCR with the desired seats, he has taken to the tried and tested trope of making the masses believe that Andhra Pradesh and the and the Modi led BJP government are the big villains who are not allowing water to reach the people of Telangana. However, KCR’s ploy is set to fail as it goes through the rigours of judicial proceedings. The bigger question thus remains — does KCR have a plan B when, because this particular ploy will disastrously blow up in his face.