new DElhi, Nov 28
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) is often referred to as “farmhouse CM” by his political opponents. Over the last couple of days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have repeatedly asked crowds in their public meetings if they needed a “farmhouse CM”, while appealing to them to vote against the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
Congress leaders Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi too have slammed KCR and urged voters to “send KCR to the farmhouse” permanently. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that KCR “runs the government from the farmhouse”.
KCR owns one spread over 120 acres and located in Erravelli village in Medak district, around 65 km from Hyderabad.
The CM, who likes to call himself a farmer, cultivates a variety of crops here, and is a frequent visitor to the place.
In December 2015, KCR hit the headlines performing a five-day Ayutha Chandi Maha Yagnam at the farmhouse, involving around 1,500 priests, “to remove obstacles in the path of success, bring prosperity and peace to the newly formed Telangana, and empower the performer (KCR) with good luck and fortune”.
The CM hired choppers and chartered aircraft, and among those who flew down for the event were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, religious heads and seers.
Ahead of filing his nomination from the Gajwel and Kamareddy seats earlier this month, KCR performed a Raja Shyamala Sahita Subramanyeswara Yagam at the farmhouse, for the “well-being of the state and BRS’s victory”.
The three-day event was conducted by the seers of the Visakha Sri Sharada Peetham, Swarupan-andendra and Swatmanandendra, along with 170 Vedic priests from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The CM is also known to visit the farmhouse to deliberate on various issues. And, in fact, he has announced many schemes and projects after his “farmhouse trips”.
Incidentally, Erravelli was the first village in the state where 2BHK houses, under the 2BHK housing scheme, were constructed by the state government.
What is the Opposition saying
The Opposition Congress and BJP have brought up KCR’s “frequent visits” to the farmhouse in their addresses to tell voters that he is “inaccessible”. It’s a soft spot against the CM as KCR has often been accused of being “unavailable” even to his MLAs.
On Monday, at a public meeting in Toopran of Gajwel, one of the constituencies KCR is contesting from along with Kamareddy, Modi asked the crowd if they wanted to vote for a CM who will not meet people.
Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy, at the launch of the party’s manifesto on November 17, said instead of “retreating to the farmhouse”, KCR should be meeting people. “KCR spends more time at the farmhouse and does not meet people. When the Congress forms the government, we will hold “CM praja darbars” frequently,”’ he said. The Congress leader also promised to rename Pragathi Bhavan and make it accessible for all.
The CM’s long-time friend, BRS Politburo member and vice-chairman of the state planning board B Vinod says KCR does not go to his farmhouse for a holiday but takes his work with him. “He spends a lot of time alone reviewing various schemes and programmes that the BRS government is implementing. The high success rate of these programmes is due to the CM’s habit of critically reviewing the execution of these schemes.
It is not political, it is how KCR is. He is very meticulous in doing everything and he needs some time alone to analyse and evaluate. His emphasis is not only on policy making but also on execution and implementation. He does a lot of work during the couple of days he spends there,’’ he said.
The Opposition attacks on the CM over his farmhouse visits also carry a sting because of his known reluctance earlier to work out of the Old Secretariat building, preferring instead his Vastu-modified, office-cum-residence, Pragathi Bhavan.
The Old Secretariat was eventually demolished in July 2020. A new, 635-room Secretariat was inaugurated in April and named Dr B R Ambedkar Bhavan.
