Weakened Etala sends KCR surrender signal
It took just a week’s time for Chief Minister and TRS head K. Chandrashekar Rao to win the battle of wits and prove beyond any doubt as to who calls the political shots in Telangana.
Barely a week after the sudden dismissal from the state Cabinet, former health minister and the perceived rallying point of the Opposition, Etala Rajendar, has decided to wave a white handkerchief and surrender before the chief minister by declaring he has no intention of waging a war against his leader, say sources close to him.
Speculation was rife all these days that Rajendar would wear the gauntlet, take on the TRS leadership and eventually step it up by forcing yet another by-election in the state. This has been the hope of many in the Opposition, be it the BJP or the Congress, both nursing their wounds of electoral defeats in the two graduate MLC polls and the Nagarjunasagar assembly bypoll. They hoped against hope that such a confrontation could snowball into a big game-changer and all forces opposed to the KCR-KTR leadership could forge a bond and inflict a lethal blow on the TRS party.
This, however, was not to be. The emphatic and anxious messages emerging out of the Etala camp are that the former minister will not resign from his legislative position or the party. This is not only because he is unsure of the verdict of a by-election, but also because no significant support was coming to him from any quarter within the TRS or from the Opposition. He stood virtually singled out.
Etala had hoped that several dissents within TRS would reach out to him after his exit from the ministry, but this has clearly not happened. This
●
has upset the former health minister.
From the start of his journey with the TRS, Rajendar knew how Chandrashekar Rao would deal with any potential dissenter, be it overt or covert. Rajendar has also witnessed the quiet burial of political careers of those who had entertained hopes of upstaging KCR.
It looks like, Rajendar overestimated his own strength and the depth of perceived anti-TRS sentiments among sections of the people. Buoyed by the recent good performance of the BJP in the Dubbak and GHMC polls in quick succession, Etala is said to have bit more than he could chew.
Etala began to give out sporadic statements, timed for maximum impact, to showcase himself as the “outsider-within” the ruling establishment and “a rebel” with a cause. KCR lost no time and struck when the iron was hot.
TRS sources, closely aware of the minutest developments related to the la affair Etala, said, “The party is filled with josh after the victory at the MLC and Nagarjuna Sagar polls. When a veteran like Jana Reddy was forced to bite the dust, what chance does Etala have? A week away from the government, by now, must have helped wisdom dawn on him. He dare not fight a bypoll against the TRS, which enjoys popular support. Across Telangana, there is confidence in KCR’s rule. His schemes are popular and his handling of the Coronavirus pandemic situation has been better than that of any other state or CM.”
TRS sources say Pragathi Bhavan was aware and keeping track of how Rajendar has steadfastly worked on maintaining a good rapport with the BJP high command and the Delhi leaders. He was working to launch a political party with its backing. If BJP had won the polls in West Bengal, it would have set its eyes next on Telangana.
“The reason as well as the timing for the sacking of Rajendar was that the TRS chief was waiting for the results of the Bengal elections. The moment it became clear the BJP was losing in Bengal, Etala was axed from the cabinet. His portfolio was taken away first to set the ball rolling. BJP’s poor performance in Bengal led to its central leaders abandoning the idea of supporting Etala for now,” they said. Rajendar realised that without the BJP’s support, it was nearly impossible for him to start or build a new regional party. A perusal of the history of Telangana dissenters breaking away from powerful parties to establish new parties must have prompted Rajendar to realise the futility of such a misadventure.
Many would recall how TD leader and former home minister T Devender Goud launched the Nava Telangana Party only to merge it shortly thereafter with Tollywood megastar’s Praja Rajyam party, which itself got defeated in the assembly election in 2009 and merged into the Congress subsequently.
Not wishing to turn into a Quixote, Rajendra -- a careful politician and a meticulous businessman -conducted a survey on his chances if he quit and created conditions for a bypoll in Huzurabad. The results he got, according to sources in his camp, were shocking to him. Most respondents gave a thumbs up for the TRS and very few declared an intent to vote for Rajendar. Even the large numbers of those who sympathised with him were not in a mood to vote against the TRS, revealed his associate and former market committee chairman of Karimnagar district.
The Election Commission too seems to have decided against conducting any bypoll until the Covid pandemic situation is brought under control. According to Rajendar’s followers, since there is no chance for a by-poll within the next six months or so, there is little point for him to resign from his MLA post.
Being in the middle of an ongoing investigation, and of a larger pandemic and economic crisis, Rajendar is unsure of how to raise the financial resources to run a party if he were to exercise the option, or even fight the by-poll, set against the might of the TRS.
Confirming the “beginning of the end” of the saga, senior TRS leaders revealed that Rajendar had sent enough signals with a small ‘wish list’ to end the confrontation. He would continue in the party as an MLA if the party chief called him back and sought an explanation about the land grab allegations. He is not insisting on an ‘impractical’ demand like getting back his cabinet post.
“The best he can get is the equivalent of former deputy chief minister Rajaiah, who lost his cabinet berth in the TRS’s first government 2014 and stayed on despite being side-lined. Having to choose between a Devender Goud and a Rajaiah, it seems Rajendar has chosen to eat a humble pie and surrender,” they said.
Revenue officers, when contacted by Deccan Chronicle, said that the probe committee slowed down its work after the high court questioned on the urgency of the matter.
Sources also revealed that two key leaders and a close aide of the chief minister were collectively trying to convince him over the next course of action in the Etala Rajendar episode. Having convinced the CM that Etala has surrendered, they are requesting him to give truce a chance.
All leaders including those of the Opposition parties are also waiting for the next move of the chief minister in the Etala episode.