Three weeks after taking charge, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy led Congress government is treading a cautious path in all its decision so far.
Making changes in the bureaucracy by entrusting bureaucrats, known for their uprightness and clean track record, with major responsibilities, the Chief Minister has sent the right signals. The recently-concluded Assembly session gave an indication of what the Congress government intends to do in its tenure.
Trying to put forth its commitment for implementation of the six guarantees and exposing, what it feels, are the “lapses in the earlier government’s rule”, the Congress apparently, has adequate clarity about the road map ahead.
People-friendly governance (Praja Palana) is what the current government is keen on reviving. It is bringing back memories of the late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s government in 2004-2009. Mass contact programmes, Praja vani and Praja Darbar, envisaging acceptance of grievances at Praja Bhavan (earlier Pragati Bhavan), and Praja Palana programme accepting applications for the six guarantees has given a sort of confidence to people of the State.
The Chief Minister is mincing no words in faulting the decisions of the previous BRS government during the review meetings of departments. The decision to order probe into alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, damage to Medigadda barrage and other developmental programmes show that the government is determined to corner the previous regime.
With welfare agenda on one hand and exposing the misdeeds of the previous government on the other, Mr. Revanth Reddy faces a lot of challenges on governance side as well as the party side. First and foremost is building a strong team of bureaucrats who would guide him through the five-year term. He also wants to prove that the BRS leadership was not accessible to the common man.
Raising funds for the ongoing programmes and new schemes announced by the Congress is another task, which will need the Chief Minister’s utmost attention. With Congress Ministers repeatedly claiming that the State is pushed to a debt trap, the question that will quiz the people’s mind is how is the government planning to raise funds for its ambitious guarantees.
Political front
On the political front, Mr. Revanth Reddy, who is also the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president, has to do a tight ropewalk. There will be three Rajya Sabha vacancies sometime in March. The Congress by its strength can win two seats while one is sure to go to the BRS. Selection of the right candidates will be a challenge with pulls and pressures from all sides.
Then comes filling up of the six vacancies in the Legislative Council from MLAs, Local Bodies, Graduates and Governor’s quota. With a long list of aspirants, it will be an uphill task for Mr. Revanth Reddy to satisfy every section of partymen. There are several leaders who sacrificed their seats for new-comers or pulled out of contest on the direction of the party leadership. Senior leaders, who contested and lost the elections too, are hopeful that the Central leadership will consider them again.
Also, over 100 State-run corporation posts need to be filled up as several leaders have worked hard for the party’s success in the recent election and strongly stood against the BRS leadership in the last 10 years. The party cannot afford to ignore these leaders and cadres.
Tough task for BRS
For the main opposition BRS, sitting in the Opposition benches will not be that easy. With the Congress consistently trying to expose the previous government’s alleged lapses, the BRS will not be a silent spectator. A big challenge that the party awaits is to instil confidence among its cadres and leaders to prepare for the Parliament elections. The party though numerically strong in the Assembly has to get its act together to keep its flock safe and also rebuild the party from the ground level.
The BJP despite winning only eight seats in the Assembly elections is still nursing hope of winning a number of Lok Sabha seats. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in the city last week, has tasked the state leadership to eye nothing short of 10 LS seats, which looks like a Herculean Task. Its confidence stems from the fact that it could win eight Assembly seats, come second in another 20 seats and improved its vote share. All these will be possible only with a united face the leadership has to show ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. A full rehaul of the State unit along with the district leadership may give a makeover to the saffron party.
The New Year will surely be very challenging for all the three main parties in the State. The Lok Sabha elections, sometime in early 2024, will be a litmus test for them.
