Diwan-I-Am or Hall of Public Audience was the place where Akbar and the other Mughal emperors heard petitions of the general public and did justice every morning. In the 21st century the king is the Chief Minister of Telangana State K Chandrashekar Rao and the Diwan-I-Am in Red Fort is now conference hall in Janahita (official residence-cum-camp office). The interaction is called the ‘Praja Darbar’.
There are two striking differences the Diwani and Darbar. Firstly, the Mughal emperors used to interact daily with the general public, while the CM in the initial days will meet twice every week subsequently it will become thrice a week. Secondly, what constitutes general public in Diwani are the representatives of various sections of people from each district in Darbar.
In the era of internet making the world a smaller place by bringing everybody closer and allowing more expression, going back 200years in time and implementing Darbar is bizarre.
The Praja Darbar lies somewhere between Diwan-I-Am and Diwan-I-Khaas. Surprisingly in the initial days the Diwan-I-Khaas aka the interactions with bureaucrats were less. It may be recalled that TJAC, Congress, TDP branded KCR as ‘inaccessible CM’, subsequently the chief minister has asked officials to setup interactions with people’s representatives at Janahita.
In times when people have become more engaged in politics, politicians are left with no other option but become more reachable. Social media brought politicians closer to people and KTR has been one of the most reachable politicians in TS. Remember the day when KTR attended PTA meeting of his daughter and the world was like ‘awww! So cute’ or the day when Narendra Modi skipped Yoga to meet his mother or when Sushma Swaraj was undergoing kidney treatment in AIIMS. These politicians talk to people directly and are using social media as a weapon. The argument that not everyone uses twitter or social media is another main reason why KCR has to make his debut, so his state follows his footsteps and embraces technology. The CM without social media could get Telangana only with his public reach, post bifurcation KCR becoming unreachable is bewildering.
Except for the talk in assembly, the leader of the masses who is capable of pulling crowds and engross you with his words and charisma is seen nowhere. Be it his Facebook account, TV channels or newspapers, KCR is always in conference rooms talking to officials.
Union Home Ministry has advised both CMs of AP and TS to reduce public appearances as they have threat from both Maoists and Islamic militant groups, last November. Despite this, CM of AP managed to get limelight and talk to people at various public meetings. However, KCR became unseen and it’s always KTR or Harish Rao representing his government.
The CM is not a leader who speaks formally at a gathering and knows how to relate with his people. On the contrary it’s been a month since KCR’s page was approved by the Facebook officials, the updates are same as that of Telangana CMO page. The expectation was that he will be interacting with people via Facebook live option and the followers are still waiting for it to happen.
On Friday, US President Barack Obama formally ended his term, amusingly India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the most followed leader of a country on twitter. Despite being PM, people can easily connect to Modi when compared to CM KCR now. The Chief Minister’s public speaking skills equally matches and at times exceeds Modi’s. We live in an age in which social media has changed how we all communicate, including the political class. Who doesn’t want to listen to his political satires, examples from past and the way he makes numbers sound easy.
The Praja Dabar will still be confined to the walls of Janahita and those representatives of people. It would be great if KCR opens his Buland Darwaza for the common man. Quoting Jairam Ramesh ‘Hyderabad ki biryani aur KCR ki jubani bahut mazedar hote hai’
