The BJP is optimistic about Telangana due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and popularity.
Hyderabad:
As the timetable is released and the horn sounds for the Lok Sabha polls, the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Telangana are gearing up for an electoral battle, with the BJP struggling after its defeat in the assembly elections. Rejuvenate.
The arrest of K Kavitha, daughter of BRS founder and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, on the eve of the announcement of the poll schedule does not seem to do any good to the already low morale of the party, which has been in the doldrums since its 10th year in power. Last year’s election failed.
Apart from the assembly by-elections, the Lok Sabha polls will be held on May 13 in Telangana.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy earlier said the Congress is targeting 14 seats, while Union Minister Amit Shah has set a target for the BJP to win in the upcoming polls. The target of 12 seats was exceeded. Telangana has 17 Lok Sabha seats. BRS had the most success in 2019, winning 9 of them.
Morale is high after the Congress won the assembly elections held late last year.
The Congress government, led by Revanth Reddy, is counting on implementing the “guarantees” announced before the assembly elections late last year.
Within 48 hours of coming to power, Revanth Reddy, who is also the state Congress president, launched a scheme to give women free travel in state-run RTC buses, along with a Rs 10-lakh Rajiv Aroa Sri Rajiv Arogya Sri) medical scheme to benefit the poor.
Subsequently, the Congress government started implementing other promises, including supplying LPG cylinders at Rs 500, providing up to 200 free electricity units to the poor, providing financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh for building houses, filling more than 28,000 Government vacancies and approval of caste census etc.
The ruling party hopes the implementation of poll “guarantees” will pay rich dividends in the parliamentary elections.
In the 2019 elections, the Congress won 3 of the total 17 seats in the Lok Sabha.
The BJP, on the other hand, is optimistic that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership will greatly help its cause in the election campaign.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Modi launched several development projects in Telangana, addressed public meetings and held a roadshow in Hyderabad on March 15.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also addressed a public meeting in Hyderabad in March.
Last year, the saffron party increased its tally to eight seats in the 2023 assembly elections from one in 2019, while its vote share rose to a respectable 14%, even as its hopes of coming to power in Telangana remain unrealized.
The fact that sitting BRS MPs BB Patil (Zaheerabad) and P Ramulu (Nagarkurnool) have joined the saffron party is an indication of the good performance of the BJP in the current Lok Sabha elections.
The construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya is also expected to help the BJP, while the Congress hopes to gain minority votes.
The BJP has announced candidates for 15 of the 17 LS seats in the state.
After a crushing defeat in the assembly elections, the BRS has been plagued by desertions of sitting legislators, with some leaders reportedly opting not to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
For instance, BRS announced Kasani Gyaneshwar as its candidate from Chevella constituency after sitting MP G Ranjit Reddy allegedly opted out of the race.
Notably, BRS MLC K Kavitha, daughter of party president and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, has also reportedly chosen not to contest the polls. Incidentally, she also lost the 2019 battle to Arvind Dharmapuri of the BJP from Nizamabad.
The BRS announced former MLA Bajireddy Goverdhan as the candidate from Nizamabad, who was represented by Kavitha between 2014 and 2019.
Meanwhile, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, who will seek re-election from Hyderabad, is expected to raise the CAA issue and other issues during the Lok Sabha elections.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
