K Chandrasekhara Rao

For calling a bandh in a state he is about to take charge of

For calling a bandh in a state he is about to take charge of

On 2 June, Telangana will become India’s twenty-ninth state, and K Chandrasekhara Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) will become its first Chief Minister. His call for a bandh—on 29 May, three days before he assumes power—is therefore all the more unusual. The bandh is in response to a clearance given by the Centre to the Polavaram Project Ordinance that merges seven mandals of Telangana into Seemandhra.

Rao’s bandh is in line with the hostility that exists between the two new states over the division of property, government staff and assets. It is believed that TRS is protesting against this ordinance because Rao wants to delay the construction of the dam across the Godavari river, which is expected to benefit coastal Andhra Pradesh. If it continues to remain an inter-state issue, he could also use it for political mileage against the Telugu Desam Party, which rules Seemandhra and is in the opposition in Telangana.

While Seemandhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has called for a truce over the matter, Rao’s party is threatening to go to court against the Ordinance. Despite being the power centre in the state, he seems to be behaving as though he were in the opposition.

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