Hyderabad: Political equations are all set to change in Telangana, with the balance now tilting towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which managed to win 8 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which drew a blank, is likely to witness defections, according to both Congress and BJP sources. The big question mark is which side the legislators will flock to.
The BJP has grown by leaps and bounds in Telangana within the last six months after it won eight Assembly seats in 2023, with 14% of the vote share. From that, it managed to get 35% of the vote share with eight out of 17 lok Sabha seats in the just concluded General Elections. A senior BJP leader said that from their side they have not approached anyone, but added that some BRS MLAs are in touch with them.
“We also think that many BRS MLAs will leave. Some may come to us and some may go to Congress. There is some talk of where to go amongst BRS legislators,” the BJP leader said, when asked about possible defections.
A senior Congress leader from Hyderabad also said that other factors like the new central government’s formation also will make a difference. “The game will now begin. Defections by BRS MLAs to Congress depends on who will form the central government. If the BJP-led NDA forms it as expected, then BRS MLAs might also join the BJP for central support,” he told Siasat.com.
After last year’s Assembly elections, there was political speculation that about 25 BRS MLAs were looking to defect to the Congress en masse. However, that did not happen. So far, only a few MLAs like Station Ghanapur MLA Kadiam Srihari and Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender have joined the Congress in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.
“Chief minister Revanth Reddy’s graph is now down thanks to the Lok Sabha election results. Since we got only 8 out of 17 seats, as much as the BJP, we are not any stronger. We also lost some three seats – Secunderabad, Mahbubagar, and Chevella – by taking support from AIMIM, which pushed Hindu votes to the BJP,” said the Congress leader.
After the Lok Sabha elections, Telangana will soon have Panchayat and local body elections as well, which will be a test of whether the BRS stands to be decimated and if it gets taken over by the BJP.
