Exclusive interview | K. Chandrashekar Rao
His sprawling farm on the outskirts of Hyderabad is something of a sanctum sanctorum for Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR). As he sat down for a 100-minute candid interaction with Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa and Senior Deputy Editor Amarnath K. Menon, the 69-year-old KCR exuded a quiet confidence about winning a third straight term. Edited excerpts:
Q. Telangana is holding its third election since it was formed in 2014. Your party won in 2014 as well as in 2018. Are you confident of a hat-trick?
Yes. My assessment is that my party’s tally will be higher than in 2018. We will go up from 88 to between 95 and 100 of the total 119 seats in the assembly.
Q. Why do you say so?
Let’s look at the benchmarks. The No. 1 benchmark for any state is per capita income. Telangana’s current capita income is Rs 3.12 lakh. Barring small states like Goa, we are No. 1. Telangana was 18th when it was formed in 2014, our per capita income around Rs 1 lakh. Now, it has trebled.
Q. What are the other benchmarks?
The second is the per capita power utilisation. It was only 1,100-odd units in 2014. Now, it is close to 2,200 units, which is double. Utilising energy means progress. The third is reduction of unemployment. When the state was formed, it was over 14-15 per cent; now, it is below 5 per cent. These are government of India figures. Migration was a problem when the state was formed. Now, I can proudly say the situation has reversed. Labour is coming to work in Telangana from over a dozen states, with numbers estimated at over 2.5 million. Our GSDP has grown by nearly three times since the state was formed.
Q. Opinion polls hint at serious anti-incumbency.
Let me be straight—there is pro-incumbency in Telangana. Like when Mr Jyoti Basu and Mr Naveen Patnaik ruled and won many terms.
Q. Then why are you contesting from two seats? Are you worried?
KCR will never be worried. I have my own reasons that I will reveal after the election results come out.
Q. The Opposition claims there is anti-incumbency against your MLAs, who are allegedly highly corrupt and haven’t performed.
There is not one case of corruption against them. No minister was dropped because of it. No wicket has fallen in the last 10 years. Land-grabbing is zero, money collection is zero. How come investors, national and international, are running to Telangana if it’s a corrupt state?
Q. Why have you given tickets to most sitting MLAs?
I did not change MLAs in 2018 either because most of them were part of our agitation. I know their level of commitment. When there is pro-incumbency, why should I change my MLAs?
Q. You are said to have a very centralised style of leadership where all power vests with you. Is it a fair assessment?
It is very fair to me because, in certain, not all, aspects, centralisation is needed. KCR certainly decides on key issues because, as a founder of Telangana, I know the requirements of the state, and some people may not like that. But with my cabinet, we have very lengthy discussions before we deliver decisions. It functions in a highly democratic manner.
Q. As the founding father of Telangana, how have you effected the transformation you had outlined in the past 10 years?
Before being the founder, I was a fighter for the state. We were planning Telangana’s trajectory even during the agitation. The state was suffering from many problems—no power, no water for drinking or for irrigation and farmers committing suicides. So, we had brainstorming sessions with top economists, including Professor K. Jayashankar and G.R. Reddy, and chose the path carefully.
Q. What were your foremost priorities?
The first thing we took up was Mission Kakatiya to restore all minor and major irrigation tanks in Telangana—the name came from a dynasty of kings that in the past had laid a massive network of some 75,000 interconnected tanks for irrigation and drinking. Before the split from Andhra Pradesh, these tanks had been criminally neglected and had almost disappeared. Only around 45,000 were left. We restored them when we came to power.
Q. What impact did it have?
It made water available for farmers and prevented migration. Paddy cultivation was only around 7 million tonnes when we came to power in 2014. Today, it is over 26 million tonnes, and we are the rice bowl of the South, not far from Punjab’s production. By next year, we expect to overtake them.
Q. Punjab fell into a wheat trap. Telangana seems to be headed for a rice trap. Are you doing something to diversify agriculture production?
Yes, 100 per cent. We had to first settle down as we were in the doldrums when the state was formed. People have now heaved a sigh of relief. Luckily, in the past decade, there has been no curfew, no strikes, no major law-and-order problems.
Q. What is your approach towards ensuring law and order in the state?
My government’s policy is for every section, including the minorities, to be happy. They should get the benefits of all the welfare schemes equally. To think of Hindus, Muslims and Christians as separate is senseless. They are all part of our polity. Why should Muslims suffer for being Muslims? We should do something for them. That should be the approach.
Q. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister used bulldozers and police encounters to ensure law and order. Do you approve of such an approach?
It is not desirable in a democracy to shoot people at sight. It is not our job to use bulldozers and demolish houses. I oppose that approach very strongly. There is a law-and-order department, there is the judiciary, and it is their job. Look at our approach in Telangana—we make people busy in work. Phir kaun ladega (who will fight then)?
Q. You have placed tremendous emphasis on welfare schemes for farmers, which seems to have become a model for governments in other states.
I had several brainstorming sessions with agriculture economist Ashok Gulati. He told me that, across the world, agriculture survives only with government support. India is the only country that not only does not support farmers but instead takes from them. So, he advised me to give them cash support. That is why we started the Rythu Bandhu scheme and gave farmers Rs 5,000 per acre as investment subsidy support for every crop, which meant Rs 10,000 a year. Not only farmers, we also focused on welfare for other sections, especially the destitute of all kinds, whether widows, the elderly or others, and gave them pensions of Rs 2,000 a month.
Q. There is an allegation that one of your major schemes—2BHK Housing—fell far short of its target, and that there was corruption in allotment, especially by your MLAs.
As a policy, in our welfare schemes, we do not allow MLAS to decide on allotments. We take out a public lottery and people themselves pick the winners. We promised three lakh units and built and delivered them. People are happy.
Q. What explains your dual strategy for power supply—of building capacity and buying from other states?
Initially, we bought power from Chhattisgarh and other places where it was available. We also planned our own generation and decided it would be done totally by the Telangana government. Private players attacked the policy as did the government of India, but I refuted their criticism. We raised installed power capacity from 6,500 MW to 18,453 MW. Now, we assure 24×7 power supply to all sectors. Earlier, people would buy inverters, converters, stabilisers and generators. Now, all these businesses have had to shut shop.
Q. Why didn’t you entrust power projects to private players?
As a policy, we have stayed with the public sector, because it is in my control. There is so much competition among states for investments. This gives me an advantage, as I can offer cheaper power rates to companies coming to Telangana. It is subsidy to some extent in the beginning, but after some time, it becomes earning.
Q. How did you grow private industry in the new state?
I took the advice of experts like Pradeep Chandra, a former chief secretary, and with their help studied industrial policies not only of Indian states but across the globe. We formulated a wonderful scheme called TS-iPass (Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-Certification Scheme), which really paid dividends. In this scheme, which we made into a law, everything is online; our government only has to check whether the investor is genuine or not. Within 15 days, investors get all the necessary sanctions like power, water, land—some 57 clearances in all—to set up industry. If the government doesn’t respond in 15 days, by the 16th day, it is deemed to have sanction.
Q. What has been the outcome?
Cumulatively, TS-iPASS has so far attracted 22,745 industries, investments of Rs 2.6 lakh crore and created 1.7 million jobs. We have grown in all the key sectors—IT, biotech and others. In IT, our exports were around Rs 57,000 crore in 2013-14. Now, they are around Rs 3 lakh crore. Our goal is to become an IT hub and overtake Bengaluru.
Q. How have you managed the fiscal deficit?
Telangana’s debt is lower than 25 per cent of its GSDP. I am not a bankrupt state. Deficit is part of budget-making. Borrowing is. Who is the biggest loanee in the world? America and Japan. Banks stand in queue to buy Telangana’s bonds.
Q. What was your focus in the second term?
It was a continuation of the efforts of the first term. Since there was no disturbance, there was political stability, we were able to deliver the goods. We focused on both industry and irrigation projects. In irrigation, we increased the speed of implementation. We have a difficult geographical situation as the riverbed levels of two major rivers—Krishna and Godavari—are lower and water has to be lifted by over 500 metres to supply to other regions. We had no way but to employ lift irrigation even though it is expensive.
Q. Opposition parties allege that the piers of the Medigadda barrage of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme collapsed recently because of poor oversight and corruption.
Kaleshwaram is the world’s largest multi-stage irrigation scheme. There are hundreds of pillars and only one collapsed. I still suspect there is some conspiracy and have lodged a police complaint. The construction was done by L&T and whatever went wrong, they will rectify at their cost—so, there is no loss to the exchequer. It is silly of the Congress to allege that KCR took Rs 1 lakh crore when the cost of the entire project is only Rs 80,000 crore.
Q. You are accused of promoting dynastic politics with your son, daughter, nephew and other relatives part of the government.
The fact is, my entire family was involved in the Telangana agitation. Both my son and daughter fought for it in a very big way. They were educated in the US, employed there and were leading a good life. But they came back and joined the agitation. They even went to jail. And they were elected democratically after that. This parivar business is all rubbish.
Q. Yet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP are raising the issue of parivarvaad?
He is a liar. The BJP gives tickets to so many parivars. They made Yediyurappa’s son BJP state chief in Karnataka recently. Where was the parivarvaad then, Mr Modi?
Q. The PM, at a recent campaign meeting in Nizamabad, claimed you had approached him to join the NDA in 2021. Is it true?
What can I do if he says whatever comes to his mind and makes up convenient stories? The fact is, I am a CM, he is the PM. I need to maintain minimum state-Centre relations. They did ask me to join (the NDA). But I said, first you do something good for the state, then maybe. But they are not doing anything good for Telangana. If Modi wasn’t the prime minister, the state’s per capita income would have grown to Rs 4 lakh—he is stopping so many things. When Modi was CM, he complained against the Centre. But now his own governors are blocking bills even after the legislature has given its assent. This is criminal. The Telangana governor [Tamilisai Soundararajan] is the former president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP. She is playing silly, third-class politics by holding up so many bills.
Q. Modi also said you sought his blessings for your son to succeed you in the state.
If there is a private conversation and I say that when I turn 70, I may think of retiring as I have done 50 years in politics, should you reveal it to the public? Then, he enquired about KTR (his son). So, I told him since you are the prime minister, do give him your blessings and cooperate with him. Is it fit for the PM to reveal such personal conversations on a political dais?
Q. How would you assess the PM’s performance?
It’s been 100 per cent disastrous. Everything is going downwards. See the value of the Indian rupee—it has never been so low. It touched Rs 83.4 to the dollar. Then, 50 per cent of the industry in the country has closed down. Previously, it was brain drain, now it is capital drain. Investors are running out of the country as are people, in lakhs, not in thousands.
Q. But the prime minister says we’re the world’s fastest-growing economy.
That is rubbish, including his claims of making it a Rs 5 trillion economy. Out of our 140 crore population, about 60 per cent are young. There is no kaam, no daam. Do you see any good work being done for the Dalits, tribals, OBCs, or farmers?
Q. The RSS and BJP propound Hindutva. What is your dharma?
I am a staunch Hindu, I perform yagnas openly. My approach is—be Hindu, but don’t bring Hindutva into politics. You are insulting Hindutva if you take it to the bazaar to encash it politically.
Q. Amit Shah came here and said he will make someone from the Backward Classes the chief minister if the BJP wins.
The BJP will not get more than one or two seats, the party can say anything it wants.
Q. You had said at the early stage of the Telangana struggle that you wanted to make a Dalit the first CM of the state?
Yes, I did say that. But the way Telangana happened, we had only 63 MLAs and everyone advised that it is not possible for others to run the new state. We have not gone back on the promise. Let the time come for it.
Q. The Congress calls you the BJP’s B-team. It says that’s why the ED has gone silent in its cases against your daughter K. Kavitha.
That is a cock and bull case, 100 per cent vindictive by the BJP, we will fight it in court. It is the liquor policy of Delhi, done openly, open to all. They changed the policy to get more income for the state. Where is the scam in it? It is [a] created [case] against [Arvind] Kejriwal and my daughter. I don’t have any truck with the BJP. I’m expanding my party to the national level.
Q. The Congress says KCR betrayed Sonia Gandhi as you had said you’d merge your party if they agreed to form Telangana.
In fact, Sonia Gandhi betrayed us. There was a long process and, for a while, I was with the UPA. But they backtracked on their promise of forming a state after they came to power in the first term in 2004. Then, in 2009, when I went on a hunger strike, the UPA agreed. By then, Andhra Pradesh CM [Y.S.] Rajasekhara Reddy had died in an accident and his son [current CM Jagan Mohan] was revolting against the Congress. They thought Telangana would go too, so they changed their mind. With great difficulty, we got the bill passed in the Lok Sabha in February 2014 when the UPA was still in power.
Q. What happened after that?
Then, I met Madam Gandhi and told her: thanks, better late than never. She asked about elections, and I told her we are willing to merge the party if she gives my party more MLA tickets and the leadership. She agreed and said she would discuss it with her party. But the next day, Digvijaya Singh called me and, in our discussions, said seat distribution would be done according to Congress norms and the state leadership would be decided after elections. They wanted us to play second fiddle. So, my party conducted a survey, which revealed we will get more than 50 seats—it was clear we had the majority. Luckily, people gave us the full mandate and we came to power. So, where is the question of us cheating the Congress?
Q. You had once called Rahul Gandhi a buffoon. Has your opinion of him changed after his Bharat Jodo Yatra?
Bharat Jodo Yatra is also a big joke, what is the sandesh (message)? There was some filmy dialogue on mohabbat. What about poverty in the country and unemployment?
Q. You renamed your party Bharat Rashtra Samithi and wanted to form a third front that was non-BJP and non-Congress. Why non-Congress?
Congress is a flop party. They developed the habit of winning elections by default. It is an arrogant party that has no system, and whose policy differs from state to state. They go to Karnataka and say something, go to Telangana say something else and go to Rajasthan and say another thing. When you proclaim yourself to be a national party, you need character, but it is lacking in it.
Q. What is your opinion of INDIA, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance?
They are broken now. Akhilesh Yadavis out of it, Nitish Kumar is scolding them every day. The Congress does not want to accommodate people. A national party should be accommodative, carry people along.
Q. Your slogan is from Good to Great. What are your plans for the third term?
We are good now, but we will try to attain excellence—that is our quest, one that will never end. But if you keep trying, you get dividends beyond expectations. There may be some failures, but ultimately you will get the result. In the third term, we will focus on health and education because we are far more settled economically now.
Q. Will you continue as CM if your party wins a third term?
As a matter of fact, I need to contribute to the country now. Not go to the Centre but sit here and do it. In Maharashtra, our party has made a beginning with excellent results in the gram panchayat polls. About 2.5 million people have joined the BRS in Maharashtra. That’s a big surprise to one and all in the country.
Q. What is the KCR model of development?
In a country like India, we require a mixed path. There should be welfare for the poor and the needy, and agriculture should not be neglected under any circumstances. Simultaneously, we should go for industry. Other aspects depend from state to state. India is such a blessed country. Unlike other countries, like the USA or China, we have so much cultivable land. We have so much solar incidence, which is best for growing crops. We have a huge population, so there is no shortage of labour. We have water that is far in excess of our requirement. Bring all three together, and we can capture the world food market. I believe the next government at the Centre in 2024 should be a government of the farmers. Ab ki baar, kisan sarkar.
