Opinion: In less than a year, KCR will be the longest-serving CM in Hyderabad

Telangana Rashtra Samithi supremo K Chandrashekar Rao will set a record as the longest-serving Chief Minister in Hyderabad on March 14, 2023. Come what may, KCR will break the record owned by Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu, who served as the Chief Minister for 8 years, 8 months, and 13 days (From September 1, 1995, to May 13, 2004) in Hyderabad, which was then the seat of power of the undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Though Naidu was the Chief Minister for one full term between 2014 and 2019 too, it was in the truncated State of Andhra Pradesh, thus a shrunken territory as compared to the geographical area he had ruled earlier.

KCR already has many a record to his credit. He is a leader who spearheaded the agitation for a separate State for the longest period – close to 13 years – and got his party elected to power after leading the TRS to a victory, fighting the elections alone. He also became the first Chief Minister of Telangana and also the first one to have been re-elected to the office in Telangana State after another round of elections, consecutively.

Though grapevine has it that the elections could get advanced in Telangana from the scheduled dates in October 2023, they are not likely to be held before he sets the record. If he gets a renewed term in the elections, which are likely to be fought fiercely this time with a clear tri-cornered contest between the TRS, the BJP, and the Congress, KCR would be the longest-serving Chief Minister in Hyderabad for anyone to break it.

The Telangana State is celebrating 8 years of its formation on June 2, 2022, and KCR, as its Chief Minister for an equal number of years. Riding on the juggernaut of success, KCR has, by and large, delivered most of the promises he had doled out to the people during the electioneering in 2014 and 2018.

Promises kept

KCR's vision of providing safe drinking water through Mission Bhageeratha to every household – over 54 lakh houses -- and extending irrigation facilities to the parched lands of Telangana perched him in an enviable position. The TRS Government could pride itself on completing the magnificent Kaleshwarammulti-stage irrigation project, the world's largest, that revolutionized the agriculture sector in the State. The State has embarked on many projects to fulfill the dream of the Chief Minister to provide irrigation facilities to one crore acres.

KCR has effectively ensured a perfect balance between development and welfare, making the best use of the resources available. Proving his critics wrong and those who presented a bleak future to Telangana, if separated, the TRS Government established that 'self-rule' by the people of Telangana would benefit the State a great deal.

The development and welfare schemes are a legion in Telangana ever since KCR assumed charge as the Chief Minister. KCR's idea of the scheme is to benefit at least one person in every household. Governance was propelled with a definite eye on the results as its fuel. The Telangana State was levitated to a newer height in terms of economic performance, GSDP growth, a spike in per capita income, industrial development, effective law and order, and the list is long. Welfare schemes like Kalyana Lakshmi, Shadi Mubarak, dignity housing, KCR Kits, Asara pensions (old-age pensions), fisheries, sheep breeding and distribution, and hordes of programs that ensure two square meals a day even for the poorest of the poor are all worth the mention.

Hyderabad, global city-in-the-making

Hyderabad, the State capital, which accounts for a fourth of the State's population, is indeed a 'Jewel' in the crown of India with the city becoming the destination for several global multi-national giants to open their second-largest facilities outside the United States of America – Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, Novartis, and Micron are just a few to name. The multi-pronged approach of the government to develop Hyderabad into a global city has, of course, a very long way to go. Yet, the government is taking steps to accelerate the process in the right direction.

In keeping with the promise of providing a large number of employment opportunities in the public and private sectors, the government has been on a mission mode to accomplish its task. Steps are afoot even to create a Regional Ring Road around Hyderabad that will be the hinterland of development in the country.

Not just hits, there are misses too

Apart from the large-scale hits, the government has a few misses too to look back. It could not deliver the full complement of the dignity housing to beneficiaries even after 8 years of being in office. The government, without factoring in the availability of land parcels, promised three acres of landholding to every Dalit family. However, this poll promise remained a pipe dream. Though KCR has come forth to lend his shoulder to the farming community, he could not visualize the 'problem of plenty when it comes to the growing of paddy that left the State with a 'loaded tummy'.

The financial situation of the State exchequer is in dire straits, thanks to several schemes and the 'deliberate non-cooperation by the Centre. Welfare schemes like 'Dalit Bandhu' have left the State biting more than what it can chew. However, KCR, who got a complete grip over the administration, is sparing no efforts to keep at bay the squabbling opposition, which is also raring to go to unseat him.

The fourth-largest contributor to India's economy, the Telangana State, boasts about the numerous achievements it had accrued to its credit, for the recognition was conferred by the Union Government, led by its bete noire, the BJP.

Considering the drawbacks, the TRS roped in poll management strategists like I-PAC to infuse new thought processes to combat the anti-incumbency and fortify its roots at the grassroots level.