After about 10 days, the official activity of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will shift to the new Secretariat. Reportedly due to reasons concerning vasthu, KCR had stopped coming to the previous Secretariat complex six years ago.
The new Secretariat, built entirely as per the preferences of KCR, will be inaugurated on 30th April, and from that day the Chief Minister is expected to occupy his chambers.
Previously, Chief Ministers used to meet the public at specified hours at the Secretariat and at their official residences. Former CM of undivided AP late YS Rajasekhar Reddy used to conduct praja darbar in the morning hours at his official residence, where people used to pour out their grievances.
Considering the ways of past CMs, some circles have criticized KCR for not meeting the public directly. Presently, except for some rare occasions, there is no entry for members of the public to the Pragathi Bhavan — the official residence of the Chief Minister.
Some political circles are of the view that KCR, after shifting the bulk of his official activity to the new Secretariat, will meet the public there, instead of making it another Pragathi Bhavan. They feel that KCR may stop key official activities like conducting reviews and holding cabinet meetings at Pragathi Bhavan upon inauguration of the new Secretariat.
Some of the past Chief Ministers used to meet the public at the Secretariat in the evening for about one or two hours. KCR may follow the tradition, considering it is election year. KCR may utilise the opportunity to address the long-standing criticism that he is away from the public. In fact, BRS party circles say, even MLAs do not have unhindered access to Pragati Bhavan except when they are invited by KCR. So, like most of the previous Chief Ministers, KCR may follow the tradition of meeting MLAs at the Secretariat by allotting specific time for those who want to meet him.
Sources say once KCR modifies his style of functioning on the foregoing lines, he can stop the criticism that he is not approachable. Besides, he can address the incongruity of Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan conducting praja darbars ostensibly to know people’s problems.
