Set for his second consecutive victory in Telangana, K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) has made the somewhat unusual transition from a man who was only synonymous with a political struggle — the creation of the state — to a leader synonymous with a governance model for which he has reaped rich rewards.
KCR called elections early. But he had to confront a challenge in the form of the Maha Kootami — the Grand Alliance of the Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS).
Despite the formidable arithmetic of the opposition, he was able to defeat them. And that was because KCR fundamentally relied on the provision of direct assistance to a large section of the citizenry in the form of welfare schemes.
He also recognised that aspirations had changed, and that to make lives comfortable and meaningful, people needed paisa, shaadi, makaan and paani (money, marriages, homes and water).