After BJP, now KCR appropriates Narasimha Rao’s legacy, fields his daughter in MLC polls

Surabhi Vani Devi, who has largely shied away from the limelight, will make her electoral debut in the Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahbubnagar graduates’ MLC constituency.

Rao’s daughter Surabhi Vani Devi (left) with KCR in Hyderabad Monday | By special arrangement

Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has fielded P.V. Narasimha Rao’s daughter, Surabhi Vani Devi, as its candidate in the MLC polls, in a move that is seen as another attempt by Telangana’s ruling party to appropriate the political legacy of the former Prime Minister and veteran Congress leader.  

This comes at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also been hailing Rao’s contributions to India and taunting the Congress for giving him raw treatment.  

Vani Devi who has largely kept away from the public and political limelight, will make her electoral debut in the Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahbubnagar graduates’ MLC constituency. She is an artist, social activist and founder of several educational institutions.

Her poll debut — elections are on 14 March — appears to be an attempt by the TRS to bolster its claims on the legacy of Rao, who was born in Laknepally village in what is Telangana today. 

Last year Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, or KCR as he is known, had decided to hold yearlong celebrations to mark the 100th birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister, which falls on 28 June. 

Last August, the Telangana Assembly had also passed a resolution urging the central government to confer Bharat Ratna on Rao. The resolution also sought a portrait of the former prime minister in the Parliament complex, and renaming of the Hyderabad Central University, which was established by him, as the P.V. Narasimha Rao Central University.

“When land was the only resource for people to have employment and earnings, P.V. as chief minister had implemented land reforms daringly,” KCR had said last year. “It was due to economic reforms that P.V. implemented as the PM that the country’s economy has stabilised now. We have to honour such a great personality in a fitting manner.” 

KCR’s moves, however, aren’t going down well with other members of Rao’s family, some of whom have joined the BJP.

“From 2004 to 2019, I had constantly invited KCR to P.V. Rao’s birth and death anniversary ceremonies — not once did he come or even acknowledge it,” Rao’s grandson N.V. Subhash, who is the Telangana BJP spokesperson, told ThePrint. 

“Even when KCR was with the central government, I stressed on how PV’s birth and death anniversary ceremonies should be a big affair, at least back in the state,” added Subhash, who is also Vani Devi’s nephew. “Not once did he respond, and now suddenly he remembers P.V. and wants to show off by doing all of this. If not for political mileage and enhancing his national image, then what is it for?” 

Subhash added that Rao was not in favour of a separate Telangana state and instead always rooted for a united Andhra Pradesh. “KCR abused P.V. Rao during the Telangana agitation and today he wants to remember what a great leader he is,” Subhash said.

The Congress also slammed KCR. “This is just an attempt by the CM to corner the Congress but that will not work. The Congress honoured P.V. Rao, made him the PM, and at least did not use his family for political mileage like KCR,” Telangana Congress leader Indira Shoban told ThePrint.

Sidelined Congress leader 

Rao, who KCR calls ‘Telangana Bidda’ (Telangana’s child), was a staunch Congressman who fell out with the Gandhi family after he became the Prime Minister in 1991. After his death in 2004, his body was not allowed inside the AICC headquarters in Delhi and was flown to Hyderabad. A small area was allocated for his funeral and memorial on the banks of Hussain Sagar. 

Subhash says his grandfather was also humiliated in the days leading up to his death. “He felt very humiliated because people would come up to him and tell him — ‘you were such a great leader, a former prime minister but now you hold no power’,” Subhash said. “He used to feel bad that despite him giving everything, he was badly sidelined by the Congress and was left to himself.”

This Congress treatment of Rao has off late, provided fodder for both the BJP and TRS to attack the party with. 

Speaking in the Lok Sabha in June 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taunted the Congress for not celebrating the contributions of Narasimha Rao. 

“There are some people who feel only a few names contributed to the national progress. They only want to hear those few names and ignore the others,” the prime minister had said. “Did they ever speak about the good work of Narasimha Rao ji? In this Lok Sabha debate, the same people did not even speak of Manmohan ji.”

KCR’s focus on Rao to keep both Congress and BJP in check

According to senior political expert Professor Haragopal, KCR’s move to highlight P.V. Rao’s legacy in the state is to keep the Congress and BJP in check.

Haragopal said that KCR first brought up  Rao’s “humiliation” to attack the Congress but his fielding of the former prime minister’s daughter is also an attempt to appease the Brahmin community. 

“TRS seems cautious against BJP. Just a day before the nomination procedure closes, they have announced a candidate, that too a person who has not been publicly active much,” Haragopal said. “It is not that TRS hopes to win with Devi as candidate but they want to split the Brahmin vote (a community Devi belongs to). The community rallies behind BJP.” 

For the state BJP, campaigning against Rao or anyone related to him will be a difficult choice, the professor said, adding that they can talk against a TRS candidate, not against P.V. Rao or someone so closely associated with him. The BJP in Telangana is riding high on victory after a win in a recent bypoll and stellar performance in municipal polls. 

But political expert and vice-president of the Telangana Jana Samithi, Prof Vishweshwar Rao, said although there is sympathy for the prime minister in the two Telugu-speaking states, his image barely holds any significance among the people of Telangana and will not add any heavy political mileage to the TRS.