Prashant Kishor has had a long career as a political strategist and consultant. In the media, he has developed a reputation as a master strategist of sorts. However, in reality, he is just a snake oil salesman who sells his political clients the dream of making it big in national politics. KCR may realise this the hard way.
TRS President K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) seems to be punching above his weight and Prashant Kishor is the man tempting him to do that.
He is trying to take his party out of regional politics and make it a national level player. However, the move is fraught with risks and could do more harm than good. Why? Let’s find out.
TRS to play a “key role in national politics”
During the celebrations of Foundation Day, the TRS adopted a resolution stating that the party will play a “key role in national politics”. Rao himself said that the TRS needed to play a “constructive role” and fill the political vacuum at the national level.
The TRS also vowed to bring about positive changes in the country in the education, irrigation, health and economic sectors. And then, there was also a subtle hint of taking on the BJP with comments about growing religious intolerance. The party was also found talking about inflation and the constitution of the Backward Caste Welfare Ministry by the Union government.
So, there is every indication that the TRS wants to spread its presence and become a pan-India party of sorts. And the man powering KCR’s ambitions seems to be Prashant Kishor.
Kishor may have fuelled KCR’s national ambitions
Interestingly, Prashant Kishor met KCR a few days ago. On Sunday, the TRS also confirmed that it had signed a deal with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) that had been founded by Kishor himself.
TRS Working President KT Rama Rao confirmed the development but clarified that it had nothing to do with Kishor. He added, “PK (as Kishor is popularly known) is the founder but I don’t know who is running it. PK introduced us to I-PAC and it is working with us.”
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We are however not concerned about the TRS’ deal with I-PAC. What we are concerned about is the fact that as per Quint, two-time Telangana Chief Minister KCR plans to anoint his son KT Rama Rao as his heir apparent in Telangana and shift to New Delhi.
Read more: KCR becomes the new poster boy of PK’s evergreen Ponzi scheme
KCR is trying to create the ever-elusive third front without the BJP and Congress. He also has the company of like-minded Chief Ministers such as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, and Maharashtra’s Uddhav Thackeray.
And from the recent developments, it seems that KCR could be trying to rely on Kishor for working towards his national ambitions. However, there are some major hiccups that he could face in his way.
KCR’s plans of making TRS a national-level party may not work
So, what is the TRS? Well, it is short for Telangana Rashtra Samithi. Now, it is the most regional party that you can come across.
The party’s website states, “Telangana Rashtra Samithi, popularly known as TRS party, was founded on 27th April 2001 by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR). The one and only objective of TRS Party then was to achieve a separate statehood to Telangana. With its uncompromising spirit to make aspirations for Telangana a reality, TRS Party played a pivotal role in carrying forth a sustained agitation to achieve statehood for Telangana.”
So, this is what the TRS and KCR are associated with – the formation of Telangana. And after Telangana was formed, KCR got the opportunity to serve as the state’s Chief Minister. Now, if the party wants to play a national-level role, it actually sounds strange. Outside Telangana, people don’t really associate with the party. Then, how will the party connect at a pan-India level? The plan simply doesn’t sound appealing enough.
On the other hand, the TRS could face anti-incumbency within Telangana during the 2023 Assembly polls. So, the party may be making a mistake by focusing on 2024 instead of focusing on 2023.
In any case, KCR’s plans to go national could backfire badly and it seems that Kishor may have a role to play in the TRS president’s big decision.