As the Election Commission of India is all set to announce the schedule for the assembly elections in Telangana, along with four other states in the country this afternoon, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi is hurrying through various programmes to woo the voters.
But what is bothering the minds of party workers and even the people alike is: “Where is BRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao?”
It has been more than three weeks since one has heard about KCR. Initially, people did not take his absence seriously, as they are used to seeing him abstaining from public appearances for days, confining himself to his farmhouse at Erravelli village in Siddipet district.
It was only when his son and state IT minister K T Rama Rao announced that his father was suffering from viral fever and now, he had got secondary bacterial infection in his lungs, people started suspecting something has gone wrong for KCR.
In fact, the chief minister was supposed to launch CM Breakfast programme at Raviryala in Rangareddy district last week, but he did not do it, but it was launched by his nephew and finance minister T Harish Rao.
Even when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made sensational comments against KCR, saying the latter had requested him to admit his party into the NDA, the chief minister did not respond. Only KTR reacted strongly; so did other ministers.
One wonders why there is so much veil of secrecy about KCR’s health condition. The opposition leaders have even questioned this long absence of KCR from public. Even now, when the election schedule is being announced, he is nowhere to be seen.
Former minister and BJP leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy said whenever the chief minister of a state is absent from his duties for such a long time, there is a protocol to be followed and it has to be informed to the people from time to time.
“Whenever there are instances of illness of a person holding such a high public office, regular health bulletins are put out by the hospital authorities and state government health officials. This is not to be seen in this instance,” he said.
He said the concern of the people is because of the fate of some eminent personalities like Kanshiram, whose condition was kept shrouded in secrecy from the outside world by his protege Mayawati, creating doubts in the minds of the people about his real condition.
“Another instance, more recent, is that of how the health condition of Jayalalithaa was totally wrapped in secrecy, supposedly, at the instance of Sashikala, which also led to several suspicions,” Reddy said.
Now, there are doubts over whether KCR would be able to attend the BRS public meeting at Warangal to announce the party manifesto on October 16.