With the last date for withdrawal of nominations over on April 29, the stage is set for a triangular fight for the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the State of Telangana.
With the polling scheduled on May 13, the two national parties—Cong (I) and the BJP are going all out to win the maximum seats. Their confidence has grown in the wake of the battle scarred BRS, which is hit by a crisis.
Though, in number terms Telangana is low in significance in the overall power equation in the national government it has emerged important with the BJP leadership, including the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi repeatedly campaigning. Every extra seat from the 4 it has now is worth in gold for the BJP as it makes its strongest bid to boost its numbers from the South.
If the Party has to reach anywhere near its overambitious targets of 370 and the NDA government crossing 400 with the slogan Ab ki baar 400 paar, it has to win double digits from Telangana and a handful from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Amit Shah has fixed the target of 14 for the State unit to achieve.
The Cong (I) too with the new found confidence under A Revanth Reddy, gained after coming to power in the November 2023 Assembly elections, a double digit performance will go a long way in shoring up the numbers all India and also consolidating its position in Telangana. It has just 3 seats in the 17th Lok Sabha.
It will be an acid test for the BRS ( Bharat Rashtra Samithi) and its leader, K Chandrasekhar Rao. Though it has 9 MPs now, political analysts feel that the party can barely win a maximum of 3, that too if KCR can galvanise the cadre.
The AIMIM is expected to retain the Hyderabad seat with its President Asaduddin Owaisi starting as the favourite. The party has been winning right since 1984. This time, the Cong (I) has put up a weak candidate in Mohammed Waliullah Sameer. The MBT, on the other hand, has decided not to contest. This leaves the BJP candidate, Madhavi Latha, a corporate honcho and social media influencer to challenge Owaisi. She has been making waves, got the backing of Modi, and is targeting the women and Hindu votes.
The move by the Cong(I) in Hyderabad points to a tacit understanding with the MIM in garnering the vote share of the Muslims across the State. It can help in 4-5 constituencies where the minorities have a decent percentage of votes and where the opponent is the BJP.
The Cong (I) began quite confidently in the campaign but unlike in the Assembly, it has not been able to forge cohesiveness in its fight. It took an enormously long time to announce party candidates. The case in point is Khammam, Karimnagar, and Hyderabad. In the end, in all three constituencies the party is a doubtful starter. In Karimnagar, it has chosen a lightweight in V Rajender Rao against Bandi Sanjay, the former State President of the BJP and winner in 2019. In Khammam too it has picked R Raghuram Reddy to take on the seasoned Nama Nageswara Rao of the BRS.
It has also chosen defectors from the BRS over party loyalists in some of the constituencies like Secunderabad, Chevella and Warangal. Danam Nagender, MLA of BRS switched to Cong(I) and got the Secunderabad ticket where he faced a tough triangular contest with Union Minister, G Kishen Reddy (BJP) and Padma Rao of the BRS. In Chevella, the party gave the ticket to Ranjit Reddy (sitting MP from BRS) to take on Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, a formidable opponent from the BJP. In the Warangal (reserved) constituency, Kadiyam Kavya, daughter of Kadiyam Srihari an erstwhile BRS minister, filed the nomination.
Despite all these developments, Revanth Reddy exudes a lot of confidence. He is banking on the anti-KCR family misrule and corruption factors to yield dividends in the Lok Sabha elections like the Assembly. Another factor is the hope to swing the remnant TDP cadres and the Andhra settlers in Hyderabad in its favour. It’s an open secret that he enjoys the backing of the TDP Chief, N Chandrababu Naidu.
BJP going for the kill
The BJP senses its best chance of bolstering up its number from Telangana. A demoralised KCR and BRS offer it a great opening to grow and wage a direct battle with the Cong (I) in power. It has been more successful in defeating the Cong (I) in several states like Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka etc than the regional parties.
The BJP is pulling out all its tricks to achieve this directly through alliances or tacit understanding or by using probe agencies to soften up opponents. The latest development in this direction is the summons issued by Delhi Police to Revanth Reddy to appear on May 1 in a case related to videos featuring Home Minister Amit Shah.
It is also well known that the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI have arrested Kalvakuntla Kavitha, daughter of KCR in the Delhi Liquor Scam some weeks ago. The development has put the BRS on the back foot and the KCR family in much anxiety.
While pressure is being built through enforcement agencies on the political opponents-Cong (I) and the BRS it is also running a high pitched campaign of corruption on BRS. The net result of all this has given it some room to nurture high ambitions too. In the municipal elections to Hyderabad it emerged as the main opposition to the BRS in 2022. In November 2023 Assembly elections it garnered its highest ever vote share of 14% which translated into 8 MLA seats. Every single extra seat from Telangana (4 now) will boost the count from the South, which is vital for it to get a majority. The Party is banking on Modi and Ram temple in Ayodhya to bring in dividends across the State.
The BJP has retained 3 of the sitting candidates-Union Minister, G Kishan Reddy (Secunderabad); Arvind Dharmapuri (Nizamabad); former State BJP President, Bandi Sanjay (Karimnagar). In Adilabad held by Soyam Bapu the saffron Party has put up an ex MP, MLA Godam Nagesh. He faces a spirited challenge from a tribal teacher and political greenhorn, Ms Atram Suguna of the Cong (I), and Atram Sakku, a former MLA of the BRS in a triangular contest in the tribal and Adivasi region.
The BJP is strongly placed in Malkajgiri, the largest constituency with 35 lakh voters held by A Revanth Reddy (present CM), with its candidate, Eetala Rajender having a good chance. The BRS leader, Ch Malla Reddy publicly announced that Rajender would win.
There are also some indications that the BRS could end up with a tacit understanding with the BJP to wriggle out of some of the ticklish situations it has landed and save itself to fight another day post the June 4 results.
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