Suave and sophisticated, but with an earthy approach to connecting with people, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and Telangana Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao has emerged as the party’s star campaigner in urban areas, with none to match him from the Opposition either.
Popularly known as KTR, he has the innate ability to connect with both the top minds in the IT sector and the young men and women just trying to get a foothold in the cyber city, as well as women who do not work outside the home or the elderly who have seen generations of politicians, all with unimaginable ease and affection.
The articulation and clarity of thought in his expressions, whether in English, Telugu, Deccani, or even Hindi in its purest form, impresses all. The Telangana dialect that his father, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, used in the agitation for Statehood is a weapon that KTR also uses quite often to appeal to the middle classes where he has gained a near-hero image.
Walking into a popular biryani joint in the city as a commoner one day, he and his family enjoyed a dinner and light-hearted chat, followed by a visit to a popular ice cream joint frequented by middle-class and lower middle class families; the outing got him traction on social media that is the envy of any city politician.
No wonder every BRS candidate in the 24 constituencies in Hyderabad wants his roadshows to be part of his poll campaign or a street corner meeting in the city where he can effortlessly reel out the BRS Government’s contribution to the city and putting it on the path to a global city. Mike in the hand and he waxes eloquent on the BRS achievements and how the city has been transformed.
His social media team that closely follows him catches the people’s reactions and the rapt attention with which they listen to him or people irrespective of age vying for selfies with the leader pumps it into the cyber space. “It’s always a pleasure to listen to him, whether it’s for a few minutes or an hour. I feel there is some seriousness in his approach to development,” reveals Marri Rajashekhar Reddy, BRS candidate from Malkajgiri.
Mr. Reddy is planning two roadshows with him to turn the tide in his favour. “There is demand from the party activists that KTR be brought in for campaigning at any cost,” he says. Uppal BRS candidate B. Laxma Reddy too, shares the same opinion. “The intensity he brings to our campaign removes our nervousness.”
Confident about his son, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, who himself is a mesmerising speaker, has stayed away from the poll campaign in the urban areas so far. Interestingly, candidates prefer Mr. KTR over Mr. KCR in urban areas where the crowds just gather if the speakers are good.
The opposition parties, unfortunately, don’t have a sophisticated and popular face that matches Mr. KTR. Even if there are a couple of leaders from Congress and BJP like A. Revanth Reddy or Bandi Sanjay, they face the language barriers that Mr. KTR crosses so effortlessly.
