With the timetable released, the Lok Sabha polls have been announced, and the BJP and the ruling Congress in Telangana are ready for war. Meanwhile, the BRS is finding it difficult to recover from its defeat in the Assembly elections.
The arrest of K Kavitha, the daughter of BRS founder and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, on the eve of the release of the poll schedule appears to have had little positive effect on the party’s already poor morale. The party ruled for ten years before losing the elections last year.
On May 13, Telangana will host both Assembly by-elections and Lok Sabha polls.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had earlier said Congress is aiming to get 14 seats while Union Minister Amit Shah has set a target of over 12 for BJP in the upcoming polls. Telangana has 17 Lok Sabha seats. BRS harvested the maximum in 2019, winning 9 of them.
The morale of Congress is high following its victory in the Assembly polls held late last year.
The Congress government, led by Revanth Reddy, is banking on the implementation of its ‘guarantees’ announced before the Assembly elections late last year.
Revanth Reddy, who is also the state Congress president, launched free travel for women in state-run RTC buses and Rajiv Arogya Sri health scheme of ₹ 10 lakh for the benefit of the poor within 48 hours after coming to power.
Subsequently, the Congress government kicked off implementation of other promises, including supply of LPG cylinders for ₹ 500, free power supply up to 200 units to the poor, ₹ five lakh financial assistance to build houses, filling up over 28,000 vacancies in government and approval of caste census, among others.
The ruling party is hopeful that the implementation of the poll ‘guarantees’ would pay rich dividends in the parliament elections.
Congress had won three out of the total 17 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections.
BJP, on the other hand, is optimistic that the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would help its cause in a big way in the hustings.
PM Modi had inaugurated several development projects and addressed public meetings in Telangana earlier this month and held a roadshow in Hyderabad on March 15.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also addressed public meetings in Hyderabad in March.
This paid dividents last year as the saffron party its Assembly presence to eight seats in the 2023 assembly polls from one in 2019, while its vote share rose to a decent 14 per cent, though its hopes of coming to power in Telangana remained unfulfilled.
Seated BRS MPs B B Patil (Zaheerabad) and P Ramulu (Nagarkurnool), who are expected to perform well in the current Lok Sabha polls, have joined the BJP.
The BJP is also anticipated to benefit from the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, while the Congress hopes to win over minority voters.
For 15 of the state’s 17 LS seats, the BJP has already announced candidates.
Down after its shock defeat in the Assembly elections, the BRS is plagued by desertion of sitting MPs and some leaders reportedly choosing not to contest in the Lok Sabha polls.
For example, BRS has announced Kasani Gyaneshwar as its candidate from Chevella constituency after sitting MP G Ranjit Reddy allegedly opted out of the contest.
Remarkably, BRS MLC K Kavitha, who is the daughter of former Chief Minister and party president K Chandrasekhar Rao, also apparently declined to run for office. Notably, she was defeated by Arvind Dharmapuri of the BJP from Nizamabad in the 2019 contest as well.
Bajireddy Goverdhan, a former MLA, was declared by BRS as their contender for Nizamabad, which Kavitha represented from 2014 to 2019.
Asaduddin Owaisi, the president of AIMIM, is anticipated to bring up the CAA issue along with other matters when campaigning for reelection from Hyderabad.
Read More
Blueberry as Big as Golf Ball Breaks Record
