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Its victory in neighboring Karnataka seems to have revitalized the Congress party in Telangana. Backing off from its dismal performance in the 2018 Telangana assembly elections, Congress has begun to aggressively take on Governor Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), with its leaders expressing confidence in winning the upcoming state elections scheduled for later this year.
Congress had won 21 of the 119 assembly seats for 2018, becoming the main opposition in the state, while the BJP won only one seat. However, over the past three years, the BJP has managed to project itself as the main challenger to the BRS with Congress largely remaining in the background.
The BJP started to go all out against the BRS after the party snatched Dubbaka assembly constituency from the latter in 2020. This was followed by the party’s strong performance in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections held in December 2020.
Then, in November 2021, the BJP won the Huzurabad assembly seat which was needed after MLA Etela Rajender was dropped from the BRS-led K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) cabinet. Rajender joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and led it to victory.
Building on these successes, the BJP continued to put pressure on the ruling BRS party. The Congress, riven by internal divisions and dissensions, has not been active in public education efforts. That was until the polls in Karnataka state last month. Now the party seems eager to go.
Talking to Indian ExpressTelangana Assembly Legislative Party Leader Malu Bhatti Vikramarka said, “The next (after Karnataka) is Telangana. People are tired of BRS and the authoritarian rule of KCR. Congress will repeat what happened in Karnataka. BRS will go and BJP will be wiped out. It has The people of Karnataka have rejected the hate policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party.”
As far as the BJP is concerned, the party’s modest defeat in Karnataka appears to have dampened its morale in Telangana. While a senior Telangana BJP leader could not be reached for official comment, the sources alluded to a “communal dispute” between “(Telangana Party President and Member of Parliament) Pandey Sanjay Kumar on one side and Rajender with some leaders on the other side”.
The Telangana BJP official, Tarun Chugh, was learned to hold talks with various party factions to “settle their differences”. To boost the morale of BJP soldiers, the party leadership is said to be planning public meetings in the next few weeks which Union Home Minister Amit Shah and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi may address.
Further turbulent in state politics are the BJP’s centralizing initiatives of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in its attempt to revive the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Reportedly, the party’s state unit is unhappy with the move. Sources said that Sanjay and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy are against any association with the TDP in Telangana as they feel that such a move could lead to a negative vote, especially when the BJP is focused on attracting Telangana voters of Andhra origin to its side.
However, on the ground, BRS is still in a strong position. This is mostly due to welfare schemes. The KCR government is also planning to roll out its flagship ‘Dalita Bandhu’ scheme soon in the remaining 118 constituencies after piloting it in the Munugode seat where the bypoll was held last year.
As the party continues to maintain strength, the KCR has been learned that it has warned its MLAs to pull their socks off and beware of a comeback in Congress. After initially dismissing the Karnataka Congress victory as a “rejection by BJP government voters”, the BRS grew to see the “threat” of the Congress in the state.
The KCR also abandoned its efforts to form a non-BJP coalition on the national front and instead focused on strengthening the BRS as a national party. With an eye on a possible return to Congress, BRS has changed its approach.
PM’s latest attack against Congress asking people to ‘throw Congress in the Bay of Bengal’ as well as open challenge by BRS MLC and his daughter K Kavitha to Congress while saying the effectiveness of government welfare schemes are there to see in every household signals a shift in party strategy.
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