Hyderabad: Thanneeru Harish Rao, close associate and nephew of TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, is seen as the troubleshooter of the party. Something the CM himself acknowledges because he turns to him with every crucial task, including seeing to that the top guns of the Congress were defeated.
Mr Harish Rao delivered and played a key role in the TRS’ overwhelming victory in the Assembly elections held on December 7.
But Mr Harish Rao seems to have some fault in his stars. After zipping around the state in a helicopter on the weekend before the elections to fulfil his uncle’s wishes to defeat the Congress’ top brass, his wings seem to have been clipped.
Neither was he anywhere in the picture when Mr Chandrasekhar Rao named his son K.T. Rama Rao as working president of the TRS nor has he been inducted in the Cabinet.
At 46, he is the youngest six-time MLA in the Assembly. Mr Harish Rao started his political journey with the TRS and became an MLA in 2004 at 32 from Siddipet. After winning the 2014, he was inducted into the Cabinet as minister for irrigation, marketing and legislative affairs.
With his high profile in the TRS, he was seen as Mr Chandrasekhar Rao’s successor till Mr Rama Rao entered the scene and his footprint began spreading all over. And after the latter’s recent appointment as TRS working president – he was named so the next day by Mr Chandrasekhar Rao after taking oath as Chief Minister for the second time – it appears that Mr Harish Rao has lost more traction.
It’s almost blow hot blow cold from his maternal uncle. After being one of the top TRS leaders, he suddenly faced an unexpected situation for some days during the campaign when he was banned by the TRS official media. Then he made a sensational statement about retiring from politics, driving his followers to further worry.
Finally, Mr Harish Rao was assigned the tough job of defeating the Congress top guns by his uncle. He checked that box too. His followers were relieved that he had bounced back.
After the clear signal that Mr Rama Rao was the successor after Mr Chandrasekhar Rao aired his desire for the national political scene, speculation is doing the rounds that Mr Harish Rao would stay away from the Cabinet. Distraught followers crowded his house worried about their leader’s political future. But he has remained tightlipped and has maintained a low profile.
Mr Harish Rao has a close association with the party cadre since TRS’ inception. In fact, after the CM, he is seen as the backroom boy. He worked at the grassroots to build the party and united all other parties for the cause of statehood. He played a key role in the 2014 Assembly elections. As per the direction of the party leadership, he took on the complete responsibility of the byelections in Medak and Narayankhed and TRS won with a huge majority.
The KTR factor since he joined TRS in 2006 and became an MLA in 2009 has got tongues wagging about their rivalry. But in a display of camaraderie, during the recent elections, Mr Rama Rao and Mr Harish Rao hugged when they ran into each other at Gurragondi in Siddipet constituency. Mr Rama Rao was quoted as saying, “Bava (brother-in-law) you will win the election with 1 lakh majority and I would be happy if I win with half of your majority.” Mr Harish Rao just smiled. As it turned out, Mr Rama Rao won with 1,25,213 votes and Mr Harish Rao with 1,18,699.
There is a strong belief among TRS leaders that the CM will make his son the Chief Minister soon. While Mr Harish Rao has openly said that he was ready to work under Rama Rao, political watchers are skeptical. But the CM’s mind about Mr Harish Rao will be known only at the time of Cabinet formation.
