A resurgent BRS might upset the apple cart of both the BJP and the Congress in Telangana, converting the straight, largely bipolar fights in the Lok Sabha elections into triangular ones.
With barely a couple days left before polling on 13 May, the regional party has shown grit and resilience, refusing to leave the electoral ground open to either of the two national parties even after its leaders were poached right and left by BJP and Congress.
Most of the 17 seats in Telangana are witnessing intense fight on the ground, particularly in constituencies like Medak, which includes BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao’s Assembly constituency Gajwel and Mahabubnagar which is home to chief minister A Revanth Reddy.
Compared to Andhra Pradesh, where elections for Parliament and the Assembly are being held simultaneously, the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana seemed to be a tame affair with the arc lights mostly focussed on the Hyderabad seat, thanks to the media interest over Asaduddin Owaisi’s challenger, BJP’s Madhavi Latha.
However, the rest of Telangana is also witnessing a fierce battle between the three parties, thanks to some shrewd political thinking by Rao, better known as KCR. The resurgence of the party might cost dear not only the ruling Congress but also the BJP, which was hoping to increase its tally by wresting a sizable portion of BRS votes.
The BRS is offering a tough fight to the BJP in Karimnagar and in Secunderabad, particularly in areas where Congress is on a weaker turf. Its presence converted many sure seats to ones where either the BJP or Congress has an edge.
Significantly, a large number of candidates propped up by both Congress and the BJP are actually ex-BRS leaders. At a time when everyone chose to write off the BRS as a weak contender decimated by desertions, KCR given a boost to the party by nominating candidates from backward classes, particularly in constituencies with large chunks of BC votes.
In Chevella, which includes the IT hub, he nominated a Mudiraj community leader Kasani Gnaneshwar since the LS seat has 3.5 lakh SC voters. In Zaheerabad bordering Karnataka, where both the BJP and Congress fielded candidates from Lingayat community, the BRS chose to field a Munnuru Kapu candidate as they are numerologically dominant in the region after its sitting MP BB Patil joined the BJP.
Moreover, KCR himself is crisscrossing the constituencies in his modified bus, holding roadshows and addressing small, roadside meetings.
“Most of the crowd in large public meetings are mobilised, that too from their own cadres and don’t mean much,” pointed out political analyst M Sridhar.
According to him, the crowds at KCR’s roadside meetings were a testament to the growing groundswell in support of the BRS. During the Assembly elections last year, KCR had addressed one or two large meetings every day and that had been his style over the years. This time, he was seen having snacks at roadside eateries while interacting with the locals.
He is mostly raising local issues like water, power and farmers’ woes, particularly highlighting the unfulfilled promises of the Congress government and striking a chord among ordinary voters.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao said, “By and large people today are vexed with Congress within a short span of time, just five months, more importantly BJP has been a non starter due to their non performing government at Delhi.”
He claimed the BRS would win 10 to 12 seats but even if it doesn’t the pink party will definitely rain on the parade of BJP and Congress on 4 June.