As the voters get ready to exercise their franchise they will be writing the fortunes of three major political parties at the State level despite their vote matters for a government at the Centre.
Stakes are high for all three major parties — Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS). The Congress, which rode to power four months ago, will see a challenge to its government’s survival since the Opposition parties have been quite vocal about the very existence of it after the elections.
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The Bharat Rashtra Samiti, which looked invincible four months ago, is facing its biggest survival challenge since its formation in 2001 in the form of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS). Losing power to the Congress and desertions of its leaders has dented its image. It faced similar challenges in the combined Andhra Pradesh but it had the sentiment issue to bounce back, and its absence now will be a test of its resilience.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been a minor player in the combined Andhra Pradesh and also the young Telangana State, but it sees — for the first time — a real chance of making big in the Parliament elections and paving the way to capture power in the next Assembly elections. If it fails in its mission of a minimum eight out of the 17 seats, its growth would be stunted to some extent as the party is in its strongest position ever in Telugu States politics.
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The challenges are real for all three parties though may be from different dimensions. In this context, the 2023 elections are quite unique as at least one of them is likely to lose their foothold in Telangana politics.
The poll narrative was set a month ago with the Congress and the BJP all set to capture majority seats and the BRS looked directionless and faded with its loss in the Assembly elections. It was nowhere in the picture initially with morale down and with the dining table discussions hovering around ‘Modi vs Congress and Revanth Reddy’.
KCR on the ground
But BRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao hitting the roads infused energy into the cadre who were looking at either the BJP or the Congress. It is back in discussions but still has not gained the confidence to hit, dent and change the set narrative of BJP vs Congress. But the BRS would be quite happy if it loses its vote share by four or five per cent rather than facing a washout as expected a month ago.
Congress high on Assembly success
The Congress, high on the Assembly poll success, is keen not just to retain but improve its vote share and seats with some natural advantages that come to those in power. But ruling parties also carry the baggage of social media-infused anger and frustration seeking instant results. The party that was battered during its 10 years in opposition by defections and low confidence fought back brilliantly to regain power and that confidence continues. It is a big advantage that Congress has over the BJP and the BRS with some of the promised schemes launched.
No BJP in Telangana
There is no BJP in Telangana but only Prime Minister Narendra Modi in these elections if one goes by the confessions of all the senior leaders here. The only mask they need is Prime Minister Modi’s, whose charisma continues to awe certain non-political sections like the middle classes and the first time voters irrespective of his administrative achievements over the last 10 years.
The BJP’s anti-minority narrative is catching up with these sections who generally vote more out of family compulsion than their personal choice. But this time this section is getting highly vocal over their preferences.
Interesting selections
These elections paved for interesting alliances and unusual names cropping up and hogging the limelight masking those spending decades in politics. The Hyderabad BJP candidate Madhavi Latha was a surprise choice to take on AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi. The BJP perhaps wanted to create a buzz with a new name that has been all over social media but with no political experience or activity as the party doesn’t see any chance of winning. The party is successful in creating the buzz.
The episode of Kadiam Kavya, daughter of MLA and former Minister Kadiyam Srihari, showcased how youngsters are dictated not by their ideological affiliations but by parental influence. After being nominated by the BRS for Warangal, she withdrew from contest and joined Congress along with her father to bag the ticket.
This election also threw up a huge challenge to all the political parties in finding suitable candidates including the ruling Congress. Five of the BJP candidates are those who joined from the BRS just before elections.
The Congress too had to rope in BRS MLA Danam Nagender to contest in Secunderabad and BRS sitting MP Ranjit Reddy for Chevella and BRS MLC Mahender Reddy’s wife Sunita Reddy for Malkajgiri. In Medak too, it is fielding Neelam Madhu, who was in BRS till Assembly elections and joined the BSP during the elections.
Another inclusion that surprised many was the BRS’ fielding former IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar from Nagarkurnool. He was the State BSP president and highly critical of the BRS rule during the Assembly elections. When his experiment with BSP failed he joined the BRS, a move that continues to puzzle his followers.
