After wresting the Huzurnagar assembly seat from the Congress in the recent by-election, Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is focussing on capturing urban local bodies.
Though he has been brushing aside the Bharatiya Janata Party as a political force, KCR doesn’t want to give any scope for complacency and wants to nip the BJP in the bud itself.
For, he knows the BJP is definitely some force in the municipalities and corporations. Moreover, the party has the potential to grow into a big force by next assembly elections, if it is allowed to win a good number of seats in the municipal elections.
So, the TRS chief has started playing the Hindutva card to keep the Hindu voters in good humour.
It was evident from the way he spoke about the importance of Hindu culture and traditions during his visit to the ashram of Sri Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy at Muchintal on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
In a bid to counter the campaign of the Sangh Parivar, the chief minister said there was no threat to Hinduism and Hindutva in Telangana as long as he was in power.
“Seers like Chinna Jeeyar Swamy are there to safeguard the traditions and customs of Hindus and spread the Hindutva across the country. Haindava Dharma will remain safe and secure under such powerful seers,” he said.
The chief minister sent a strong message among the Hindus that he had the backing of peethadhipathis and spiritual leaders.
As if to promote KCR, Chinna Jeeyar Swamy said unlike other politicians who were afraid of god and religion in public, KCR had never concealed his faith and put up a pseudo secular image.
“He belongs to a rare breed of politicians who has staunch faith in Dharma and Religion. He has set an example by performing many yagams. He has also been focussing attention on development of temples in the state,” Jeeyar Swamy said.
Obviously, KCR wanted to prove that he is a stronger Hindu than the BJP leaders who claim themselves to be the champions of Hindutva!