Inaccessibility and Arrogance marked BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao’s rule in Telangana in the last term. KCR hardly made a public appearance or met voters. This added to the perception that the government was becoming arrogant and taking voters for granted. Dissent of any kind was put down with iron hand. It worsened his image.
KCR was chief minister, his son was the information technology minister, his nephew was the finance minister, his daughter was a member of the legislative council and another nephew was a Rajya Sabha member. Opposition parties alleged that this concentration of power in one family was problematic and encouraging corruption. The voters agreed.
This is by far the most important factor that led to downfall of KCR government. In almost every rural constituency, voters had accused their MLAs of land grab, illegal sand mining and other corrupt practices to a mass huge wealth in the form of cars and palatial homes.
Only a select few close to BRS got benefit from welfare schemes such as Dalit Bandhu and the 2bhk housing project. This antagonized a large section of eligible voters who were on the waiting list.
The state government failed to fill thousands of job vacancies, turning unemployed youths into rebels.
In the 2014 and 2018 elections, KCR could convince people to vote against Andhra rulers like the Telugu Desam party’s Chandrababu Naidu and help in building their near new state. This time, though, his speeches failed to strike a chord with voters. It was as if the party had nothing new to offer.
The Congress campaign to club together the BJP and the BRS worked. Minority voters seem to have distanced themselves from BRS to some extent, and have drifted towards the Congress. Central agencies dragging their feet on Delhi liquor case involved KCR’s daughter, Kavitha.
The world’s biggest lift irrigation project came under scrutiny as its pillars partially sank, and seepage was detected just before polls. The Congress had frequently, accused the BRS of massive corruption in the project.
Dozens of Congress MLAs moved to the BRS in the past nine years. In these elections, many of them lost, which is being seen as a strong message to those who jump the ship.
In the history of united Andhra Pradesh, no party won three consecutive terms. It was evident that though many people were not strongly against the BRS, they still opted for change as they felt it was healthy for democracy. (IPA Service)
