A battle over the title of ‘Jatipita’

At the centre of a recent political controversy in Telangana is a symbolic but emotionally charged question: who deserves to be called Jatipita, or the Father of Telangana?

The immediate trigger for Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leaders and cadres hailing party president and former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) as Jatipita was the notice served on him by a Special Investigation Team, summoning him for questioning in connection with an alleged phone-tapping case during the BRS regime. The party saw this as an insult to their leader, who they claimed had singlehandedly fought with the Centre and ensured the creation of Telangana in 2014. Calling him the architect of the State, they questioned how he could be treated like a criminal.

The repeated attempts by the BRS to bestow the title of Jatipita on Mr. Rao did not go down well with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who launched a scathing attack on the BRS chief. “KCR is not worthy of being called the Father of Telangana. He is only a self-proclaimed fatherly figure,” he said. Accusing Mr. Rao of corruption and mismanagement, Mr. Reddy said that he “looted the State and plunged it into debt.” The Chief Minister argued that if anyone deserved the title, it would be either Professor K. Jayashankar or Konda Laxman Bapuji, both of whom made genuine sacrifices for the cause of statehood.

Intellectuals who have closely observed the Telangana movement — from the early agitations in 1952 and 1969 to the final push led by Mr. Rao after formation of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in 2001 — have a different perspective. Former Telangana Joint Action Committee Convener and ex-MLC M. Kodandaram, a professor who worked closely with Mr. Rao before their fallout, said that Prof. K. Jayashankar is widely regarded as the principal ideologue of the Telangana statehood movement. Jayashankar, a former Vice Chancellor of Kakatiya University, was active during the 1952 and 1969 Telangana movements. During the final stages of the movement, he was instrumental in bringing together all sections of society and offering clarity to the long-pending demand. “He had an ability to unify the people and articulate the cause, so he was often referred to as the ideologue of Telangana, though he himself never claimed that title,” Prof. Kodandaram explained.

Others such as Bhupati Krishnamurthy from Warangal, Konda Laxman Bapuji, and Prof. Keshav Rao Jadhav also played significant roles in sustaining the movement.

Prof. Kodandaram noted that after the formation of Telangana, the narrative shifted. During the annual Deeksha Diwas, celebrated by BRS cadres to commemorate Mr. Rao’s fast that pressured the Centre to announce statehood for Telangana, the party began calling him Jatipita.

On the other hand, former BRS MP B. Vinod Kumar has strongly defended the party’s position. He argued that it is common in statehood movements to honour leaders with titles such as Bapu or Jatipita. He said that Mr. Rao deserves recognition as Jatipita, since his leadership was central to the formation of the State.

Drawing parallels with Jharkhand, Mr. Kumar pointed out that Shibu Soren, founder of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, is known as Jatipita of the State. Soren led the movement for decades, and though Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government, his role in sustaining the agitation earned him that recognition.

“The agitation for a separate Telangana had a violent past. During the 1969 movement, more than 360 people died in police firing. On the other hand, KCR’s stewardship in the final phase of the statehood stir was largely non-violent,” Mr. Kumar said.

While the BRS cadre may feel justified in honouring Mr. Rao with the title, history suggests that such recognition cannot be manufactured through party resolutions or political campaigns. Titles like Jatipita endure only when they are affirmed by a broad social consensus that transcends partisan loyalties. The current controversy appears less about history and more about present-day political positioning, with both the BRS and the Congress seeking to consolidate their support base ahead of the municipal elections. Ultimately, public memory will determine how Mr. Rao’s legacy in the Telangana movement is defined, or who gets to be called Jatipita.